


You're My Best Friend

by Wolfstar_Marauders



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 1970s, Bisexuality, Canon Compliant, Canon Related, F/F, F/M, Gay Character, Gay Panic, Homosexuality, Is this too many tags, LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Female Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, LGBTQIA+, Lesbian, Lesbian Character, Long, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Music, Slow Burn, idk - Freeform, idrk what tags are for, lgbtq+, lgbtqia, or not enough tags, pansexuality, time accurate?, whatever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:28:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28442445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfstar_Marauders/pseuds/Wolfstar_Marauders
Summary: I don't really know what to write here. I guess I got inspired by All the Young Dudes to write my own Marauders Era fic, so this is a Slow Burn Wolfstar, also Jily, and it follows the Marauders and their friendship at Hogwarts. I tried to make it as accurate as I could, except Regulus is not becoming a Death Eater because I don't want that much pain. :) It probably will use some headcanons from Tumblr and such that I've seen so sorry if I use them and don't credit anyone cuz I probably just forgot where I got the idea.I try to put TW on chapters as a heads up, but for the whole piece, TW for mentioned violence, gore, pain, anxiety, physical and mental abuse, and one chapter about suicide. There may be future TWs which I will add in here.Also, the chapter titles are songs that I sometimes have fit the theme of the chapter, but sometimes they are just there because they are good songs. I also put songs that would have been released at the time of the chapter, so that's just a little addition.No beta reader, we hope for no errors.Comments and Kudos are appreciated :)Disclaimer, I do not own Harry Potter or its universe or things would be different.
Relationships: James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon & Dorcas Meadowes, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. Act Naturally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act Naturally - The Beatles

It was the evening in late August when Walburga first mentioned Sirius’s Hogwarts letter. He knew it must have come several months ago, but didn’t want to bring it up until his parents deemed it time. Orion was out of town, leaving Walburga to care for Sirius and Regulus, but she mainly just stayed in the study and allowed Kreacher to take care of them. Sirius was sitting in the formal dining room with his little brother and mother, previously in silence, which was broken by Walburga.  
  
“We’re getting your supplies tomorrow at 10 in the morning. Best not be late. Be ready to leave at the hour, sharp,” she said decisively.  
  
“Yes, Madam,” Sirius responded, not looking up from his plate. He paused for a second, debating, before asking, “Is Reg coming too?”  
  
“Call him his full name, Sirius, and no. He’ll come next year, when it’s his turn to leave for school.”  
  
“Yes, Madam,” he said again. Regulus slumped in his chair, looking disappointed, and Sirius grabbed his hand under the table, giving it a quick squeeze. Regulus looked up at him and smiled, then looking back at his plate.  
  
“May I be excused?” Sirius asked. After getting permission, he left his plate for Kreacher to clean up and went up all four sets of stairs to his bedroom. A moment later, he heard a knock on the door, and called, “Come in.”  
  
Regulus walked inside the room and crawled into bed next to Sirius without a word. Sirius gave him a hug, and they both fell asleep.

  


***

  


Sirius was awoken by Walburga slamming open the door. Sirius immediately sat up, trying to hide the fact that Regulus had slept in his room. Walburga always wanted him to grow up and sleep in his own bed, but Sirius preferred it when Reg was with him. It was easier to go to sleep when he wasn’t alone.  
  
“30 minutes,” she said, before stepping out.  
  
Sirius hurried to get dressed, grabbed a bit of bread, and met Walburga at the door. Their trip was quick and Sirius was allowed no time to look in other shops. They got what was on the list and that was that. While getting his robes measured, a Indian boy with unruly black hair tried to introduce himself to Sirius, but he stayed quiet as his mother was nearby. The trip took only a few hours and they were back by 1. Sirius was elated to have been allowed his own owl, and immediately brought it upstairs to show off to Regulus. He even let Regulus name it, despite the fact that Reg chose a terrible name. Who names an owl Doyle? But he knew his little brother was sad that Sirius was leaving soon, so he obliged. That night, Walburga made sure Regulus slept in his own room, leaving Sirius alone to dwell on his thoughts.  
  
Was it terrible of him to be happy to leave? Obviously, he’d miss Reg, but he wouldn’t miss anything else. It was horrid being home.

  


***

  


Walburga dropped him off at King’s Cross thirty minutes early, not allowing Regulus to come, and not staying longer than a minute. Sirius sat down in a compartment with the Indian boy he’d seen in Diagon Alley. He tried to remember how he’d introduced himself.  
  
“James, yeah? I saw you in Diagon Alley,” he said.  
  
“Hey, that’s me. Er, didn’t think you’d choose to sit here. You weren’t very chatty a few days ago,” James replied.  
  
“Yeah, well. Now I am, I suppose. I’m Sirius. Friends, yeah?”  
  
James pushed his glasses up and messed up his hair. “‘Course. I suppose you’re a First Year as well, yeah? I’m so excited. I’d been waiting for my letter for ages. Mum tells me I’m too impatient. It would come when it comes, but who wouldn’t be impatient? It’s Hogwarts, ya know? I’m so thrilled. It’s going to be a blast, yeah? I brought lots of goodies from Gambol and Japes, so we should be all set for the year. We’d better be in the same house, or else we’ll have to sneak into each other’s Common Rooms. My mum gave me lots of food for the trip, and plenty of money for the snack cart as well. How about you?”  
  
James had said so much all at once, it took Sirius a second to process it. When he was about to respond, a red headed girl and a slimy headed boy walked into the compartment, discussing, from what Sirius could tell, the girl’s sister. To Sirius’s dismay, the girl appeared to be crying, so he decided to ignore her and her friend, who really needed to wash his hair. Apparently, however, James was listening to their conversation.  
  
“Slytherin? Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?” The last part was directed at Sirius. Sirius tried to keep a straight face.  
  
“My whole family have been in Slytherin,” he said, worrying about James’s reaction, but James was cool about it.  
  
“Blimey," said James, "and I thought you seemed all right!"  
  
Sirius was very nervous at this point, but he grinned. “Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"  
  
“Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad,” James said, pretending to carry a sword.  
  
The slimy hair boy scoffed at this.  
  
“Got a problem with that?” James asked him.  
  
“No,” said the boy, clearly holding a grudge. “If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-”  
  
Sirius felt a sudden urge to protect his new friend from this jerk. “Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?” James burst out in laughter, but the slimy boy and the ginger girl seemed unthrilled. The girl stood up, pulling her friend with her.  
  
“Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment.”  
  
“Oooooo,” Sirius and James said, trying to imitate the girl.  
  
“See ya, Snivellus!” James called behind them.  
  
“I think it was Severus,” Sirius said.  
  
“Whatever, he was a jerk anyway. And what was up with that girl? We were hilarious. Well, at least they’re gone, anyway. So, your family is from Slytherin, eh? Sorry about that. You seem alright, I can probably handle you even if you’re a Slytherin, as long as you don’t become all snake-y, yeah?”  
  
Sirius chuckled. “Yeah, sure.” He knew he was going to be Slytherin. What other option was there. Not like his family would be happy even if the Sorting Hat went off his rocker and placed him somewhere else. Sirius let James chatter on for most of the train ride. He was having quite a bit of trouble breathing, and already wished Regulus were with him, but he tried to focus on what James was saying as a distraction.  
  
Apparently James was an only child, and a huge Quidditch fan. James was dismayed that First Years weren’t allowed brooms, and was considering sneaking one in. He also, it seemed, was planning to fake being older and try out for the Quidditch team. He bragged about being a very avid Chaser and wanted to know if Sirius played, and Sirius admitted that he’d never tried. His parents preferred him to practice French, read classics, and play piano, he told James begrudgingly.  
  
After a while, James brought a heap of different foods, mainly Indian, and shared them with Sirius. Sirius was glad to have some, and by the time the food trolly came by, he was quite full, but James insisted on buying some sweets anyway. Sirius noticed several Galleons being passed, and James collected a huge amount of candy. He must have quite a fortune, he thought. Not like Sirius didn’t, his family being the Blacks, but Walburga didn’t give him nearly as much allowance as it seemed James got.  
  
“So what’s your family like, then?” Sirius asked. He knew it was unsteady territory, as he definitely did not want to talk about his own, but he figured James would be happy to talk for a while.  
  
“Oh, my mum’s a great cook. Brilliant as well. And my dad’s really smart too. He used to do lots of potions stuff. He made the Sleekeazy’s hair potion that a lot of girls use for fancy events, I think. I don’t really know much about it. Anyway, they’re both quite old. They didn’t think they’d have kids, but here I am.”  
  
Sleekeazy’s hair potion. That was invented by a Potter, Sirius thought, if he remembered correctly. Which meant… Oh no. His mother would not be happy. “You’re James Potter?”  
  
“Oh yeah. Did I not say that earlier? Whatever. Anyway-” James continued chattering on, but Sirius could feel his anxiety rising. A Potter. They were Blood-Traitors, weren’t they.  
  
“Er. I don’t mean to be rude. Aren’t your family Blood-Traitors?” Sirius asked nervously.  
  
James blinked. “I’m sorry? I mean, I guess. That’s not really a nice term for it, but yeah we don’t support all that Pureblood propaganda. Your family really says stuff like that? Wow, I really am sorry for you.” He continued talking, not stalled by Sirius’s question for long.  
  
Sirius muttered an apology for his vocabulary, but he wasn’t sure James had heard it. Well, if his parents were upset about his friends, so be it. Not like he wanted to please them anyway. He pushed his hair back, noticing it was longer than his father usually allowed, but Sirius liked it long. The rest of the train ride was spent in easy conversation with James.


	2. All Together Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Together Now - The Beatles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW Anxiety, Panic Attack

Remus had been sitting in a compartment with a small blond boy named Peter for a while, mainly just reading while Peter chattered on, when a redheaded girl and a dark haired boy walked in.  
  
“Hey, can we sit here? Some jerks just insulted me and Sev, so we left. I’m Lily, this is Severus, we’re First Years,” the girl said, sitting down next to Remus without waiting for an answer. “Oh, I see you’re reading the textbooks? I read them the day I got them, I was so excited. This is all so new to me. My family are all Muggles, so I never expected this, despite Sev trying to tell me all summer.”  
  
Remus nodded slowly, assuming the two were neighbors or something. “I’m Remus. This is Peter. Firsties as well,” he said as an introduction, turning back to his book.  
  
“What’s up with your scars?” the boy, Severus, asked. Remus instinctively folded his arms, trying to cover himself despite his large sweater doing that already.  
  
“Sev!” Lily hissed.  
  
Remus stammered. “That’s a bloody personal thing to ask when you’ve said nothing else to me before.”  
  
“Right. So…”  
  
“Severus! Stop asking him that. It’s personal!” Lily hissed again.  
  
“Right, maybe you should leave,” Peter said pointedly, glaring.  
  
“Alright, fine. You coming Lily?” he asked.  
  
“Maybe later,” she murmured, flushing red. Severus scoffed and left, shutting the door sharply. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what was up with him. I promise he isn’t usually like that. I hope you don’t mind me staying. You guys seem really nice.”  
  
Remus nodded, telling her not to worry, but returning to his book. They spent most of the ride in peaceful silence, and rode across the lake together, to await Sorting in a room off of the Great Hall. An Indian boy with unruly hair and round glasses was laughing with a boy with dark hair and sharp cheekbones and Lily and Severus kept shooting them glares. They stood there waiting until Professor McGonagall came in to retrieve them and bring them out for the Sorting Ceremony. She wore her dark hair in a tight bun and had rectangular spectacles with green rims, and she spoke with conviction, always very sure of what was going on.  
  
As they filed out into the Great Hall, the rest of the school walked on from their House tables at the students and a small set up with a stool and a large hat. “I wonder how many kids have gotten lice from that,” he muttered to Peter and Lily, making both of them chuckle, although Peter was clearly very nervous.  
  
As McGonagall began reading from the list, everyone listened intently. The third student to be sorted was the kid who was friends with the Indian boy, apparently named Sirius Black. The hat thought for a few seconds before shouting “GRYFFINDOR!” The Great Hall was silent for a second before the applause began, and Remus wasn’t really sure why. Sirius walked stiffly to the Gryffindor table, sitting in the section the older kids had left for new students.  
  
Lily Evans went soon after, also being sorted into Gryffindor, and seeming unthrilled to be sitting next to Sirius. Severus scoffed at her sorting and was visually upset at it. Remus didn’t really understand the big deal about what House someone was in, but he didn’t want to bother Severus. Several other kids went before Remus’s name was called. He walked slowly up to the stool, sitting down and letting McGonagall place the hat on his head, uncertain about what would happen.  
  
Did he even deserve to be placed in a House? Could he? He wasn’t like them, he was an animal, he thought to himself. “You’ll go somewhere, don’t worry.” It was the hat, in his head. “Let’s see. Very smart, resourceful. You could fit in in Ravenclaw, but I think, perhaps… GRYFFINDOR!” Remus sat down across from Sirius and Lily, smiling at both of them as they waited for everyone else to get sorted. A few girls, Mary, Marlene, and Dorcas joined them, sitting near Remus, Lily, and Sirius. Mary had straight brown hair, while Marlene had wavy blond, and Dorcas had very dark hair and skin darker than James’s. Both Peter and Sirius’s friend, James Potter, were sorted into Gryffindor and joined them as well. They were starting to get bored of the Sorting by then, but they waited patiently anyway. Lily slumped sadly when her friend Severus Snape was sorted into Slytherin, but Remus didn’t really care.  
  
After the last student was sorted, the Headmaster, Dumbledore, made a short speech that made little sense and food appeared on the table in front of them. After dinner, the Gryffindor Prefects showed them to the Gryffindor tower. The password was Gillyweed, they were told, and boys and girls had separate dormitories and were not to enter the other one. They had a curfew of 9:30 as First Years and weren’t to leave the tower until 7:30 in the morning except for emergencies. The 8 new Gryffindors sat down in the Common Room, not quite ready for bed. They all introduced themselves quickly, talking about how cushy the Common Room was and making small talk for a bit.  
  
“I’m so excited for classes. It’s a shame we have to wait until Monday for classes to start. The textbooks have been so interesting, I can’t wait to see what it will be like to learn all these new spells and things. My friend Sev is really good at Potions, but I don’t know how I’ll do. What are you guys excited for?” Lily said.  
  
“Snivellus? Why are you guys even friends?” James asked, rolling his eyes.  
  
“I wasn’t talking to you, Potter. You know, I was going to put aside my first impressions but it seems that my first thoughts about you were correct. I’ll give Black another chance though,” Lily huffed.  
  
Remus saw Sirius flinch a little at being called Black but didn’t think much of it. “What were your first impressions of me? That I was handsome?” James asked, messing up his hair.  
  
“That you were an arrogant toerag,” Lily stated bluntly.  
  
Marlene and Sirius laughed very hard at that and James looked very affronted, but didn’t seem to be truly offended.  
  
“Yeah, I’m pretty excited for classes as well. I think I’ll be pretty good at Herbology. I always help my mum in the garden, so I’ve got quite a bit of practice,” Peter said, changing the subject back to school.  
  
“I think it’s dope that you can turn one object into another. I dunno, Transfiguration seems really cool, don’t you think?” Mary said, to which James nodded in agreement.  
  
“Flying lessons will be the best. I love Quidditch!” James said, apparently over the insults from Lily.  
  
“Yeah, I always thought it was just something you wanted to do. I didn’t know you could really do it. We can fly towards the stars,” Dorcas said, smiling.  
  
“Hey, why are you trying to fly to me?” Sirius joked.  
  
Remus stared blankly.  
“Sirius. The dog star. Brightest star in the night sky,” Sirius bragged in response to Remus’s blank expression.  
  
“I figured you’d know that, what with all the reading you were doing on the train, Remus,” Lily said, nudging Remus’s shoulder.  
  
Remus chuckled uncomfortably, suddenly wanting to get to the safety of a smaller location. He cleared his throat and excused himself, ignoring the concern on Lily’s face. Once he got to the dormitory, he let out a sigh of relief. He quickly found the bed with his trunk by it and changed into his pajamas, grabbing a book from his trunk and curling up under the covers with it. His social timer was less reliable around the moon, which was coming soon, but Remus tried not to think about it. He tried to just focus on his book, one of his books by Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach. He had only read about a page when the door opened after a quiet knock.  
  
Remus looked up to see Peter. “You okay?” Peter asked softly.  
  
“Yeah, just tired. You can keep hanging with the others, I don’t mind,” Remus said.  
  
“Nah, it’s okay. Whatcha reading?” Remus showed him the book and Peter looked interested. “I’ve read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but none of his other books,” Peter said.  
  
Remus smiled and flipped back to the beginning, starting to read out loud. Peter curled up next to Remus, making him scooch over a bit so Peter could be under the blankets as well. Remus and Peter fell asleep like that before James and Sirius came back up. When they did come into the dormitory, James nudged Sirius, pointing to the two boys in the same bed and laughing quietly. Sirius laughed too, but he and James ended up sharing a bed as well since both of them were rather homesick.

  
***  
  


Remus woke up earlier than he needed to for a day without classes but he was worried about being late. He figured he would be the only one up, but when he got out of bed, careful not to wake Peter, he saw Sirius sitting on the ground in the middle of the room, reading Remus’s copy of James and the Giant Peach, which Remus had dropped on the floor when he fell asleep.  
  
“Hey,” Remus said, causing Sirius to jump.  
  
“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were up. I borrowed your book, I hope you don’t mind. Why is it so weird to have a big peach, when someone probably just engorgio’d it?”  
  
“Sirius, it’s a Muggle book.”  
  
“Oh,” Sirius said thoughtfully. “I’ve never read a Muggle book before. My mum always said they would poison my mind or whatever. It’s good, though. Reg would like it, I think.”  
  
“Er. Who is Reg?” Remus said, shifting from side to side.  
  
“Oh! My little brother. He’s only 10, but he’ll be at Hogwarts next year. I need to remember to write him a letter later.”  
  
“Cool. Well, I’m going to shower. Talk more at breakfast.” Remus shuffled out of the room to the bathroom and stood under boiling hot water for a few minutes, mulling over his thoughts. When he got back, the other two boys were up and getting ready for breakfast as well. They all went down together at around 7:30, leaving space next to them in the Great Hall for the girls. Just as they were shoveling food on their plates, a ton of owls came flying in carrying the mail. Sirius stiffened as he saw a red envelope coming in carried by the Black family owl.  
  
“What’s wrong?” Remus asked.  
  
“Oh no. How are they already sending that, you couldn’t have done anything this early, class hasn’t even started!” Peter said, patting Sirius’s shoulder.  
  
Sirius ripped open the letter and Remus realized why the other boys were so nervous about this when a voice started screaming out of the letter.  
  
“SIRIUS ORION BLACK! YOUR FATHER AND I ARE SO DISAPPOINTED IN YOU, HOW DARE YOU BE SORTED INTO GRYFFINDOR?! YOU ARE A FAMILY DISAPPOINTMENT AND I EXPECT YOU TO WORK VERY HARD TO MAINTAIN THE BLACK FAMILY REPUTATION!” It was Sirius’s mother.  
  
“Mum, can I have a sandwich, please?” a small voice asked in the background of all the screaming.  
  
“Go ask Kreacher. YOU BEST BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR WHEN YOU COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, SIRIUS BLACK!” The letter burnt up into a pile of ashes and Remus gulped. He saw the girls standing at the entrance of the Great Hall, having been stopped by the screaming. He didn’t know what to do as Sirius rushed out of the Great Hall and sat shocked.

  
***  
  


Sirius ran to the Black Lake and gasped for air. He heard footsteps behind him and told them to go away, but they didn’t.  
  
“It’s fine, James, leave me alone, please.”  
  
“Hey.” It was Lily.  
  
“Oh. Hey. I’m sorry. I thought you were- it’s okay you can leave.”  
  
“You’re not fine. Come on, just breathe. It’s okay,” Lily said softly. Sirius took a shaky breath and felt Lily put her hand on his shoulder. She hugged his shoulders as he caught his breath, not leaving his side. “Potter was going to come too, but I told him I could handle it. My sister has panic attacks sometimes too.”  
  
“I’m not having a panic attack,” Sirius snapped.  
  
“Okay,” Lily said calmly. “Do you want to talk about it?”  
  
“It’s just- Regulus. I left him there.” Lily didn’t ask him anything else, just sat by his side until he was ready to go back in. Sirius rubbed his eyes and sniffled, hoping he didn’t look as terrible as he thought he did.  
  
“You’re not so bad, Black.”  
  
“Sirius,” he corrected, ignoring the flinch he let out when she used his last name.  
  
“Right. Of course.” Sirius nodded, thanking Lily, and they walked back into the Great Hall together.


	3. Riders on the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riders on the Storm - The Doors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW Mentions of Pain, Gore, Death

James had been playing Wizard’s Chess with Peter, the only of his friends who could match him, when Remus stood up suddenly. It was only 7 in the evening so he couldn’t be going to bed already, even if classes did start the next day. “What’s up?”  
  
“Oh, did I forget to tell you?” Remus said, looking a little shocked. James furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. He had no clue what his friend was talking about. “Oh. Sorry about that. My mum’s sick so McGonagall arranged for me to go home for a day or so to visit. She said to go to her office at 7, so.”  
  
James’s mouth opened and his cheeks reddened a bit. “I’m so sorry. I hope she feels better,” he said, standing next to Remus and putting a hand on his shoulder. Sirius and Peter said similar things. “Do you want me to walk with you to her office?”  
  
Now Remus turned red, looking at the floor. “It’s okay. Thanks, though. She’s fine, just has a disease. She has her bad days.”  
  
“Why couldn’t she just go to Saint Mungo’s?” Sirius asked curiously, getting an elbow in the ribs from Peter and a hiss to shut up, but Remus just laughed, although he seemed a bit uncomfortable by the question.  
  
“She’s a Muggle, so it’s a Muggle disease,” he said simply.  
  
“Oh. What’s wrong with her?” Sirius continued.  
  
“Sirius!” Peter hissed again, elbowing him harder.  
  
Remus shuffled from side to side, twisting his hands together. “Um. I should probably… go… So, bye.”  
  
James and the other two called their goodbyes as Remus left, and as soon as the portrait hole closed, James turned to Sirius.  
  
“What was that? That’s kind of personal, you know,” James demanded.  
  
“Just a question…” Sirius mumbled.  
  
“He’ll tell us in his own time. We need to make sure he’s okay. His mum could be dying, for all we know!”  
  
“But wouldn’t it be helpful to know what disease she has so we know if we need to help him prepare for her death?” Peter was looking determinedly at the floor as he asked this.  
  
“No. He’ll tell us when he’s comfortable. Give him some space. Also checkmate, Pete.”  
  
Peter looked down at the chessboard, gaping. “How did you-? What? We only made, like 10 moves!” Sirius laughed, pointing at Peter’s face, and James had to admit that the expression Peter wore was very funny. He kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish and his eyebrows appeared to be permanently furrowed.  
  
“This is boring. We should do something. Like find out what’s in the Great Lake!” Sirius said, widening his eyes in excitement.  
  
“Yes! Or- Or- Or- Hear me out. We put something in the lake!” James jumped up, brushing off his pants, as Sirius gasped in amazement. “You in, Petey?”  
  
Peter frowned, chewing his lip. “I dunno. What would we even put in it?”  
  
“Well we wouldn’t put anything in yet, of course. We’d have to wait until we can get something cool, like an octopus or a squid! But we can go stake out the joint!”  
  
“Stake out the joint? Seriously?” Peter looked exasperated.  
  
“And then we could look at the Forbidden Forest! Explore it and such, find out why it’s forbidden. Or see that new tree everyone is talking about! And then when Remus comes back we can show him what we learned. Come on, it’ll be great, let’s go!” James pulled Peter to his feet, noticing the other boy give a small resistance, but Pete gave in quickly and allowed himself to be pulled up. The three boys walked down to the lake and walked around part of the shore. It was kind of muddy and there wasn’t much to see. They’d have to get something to put in the lake before it was interesting.  
  
Sirius was leading the other two to the Forbidden Forest when they bumped into a kid walking around outside. It took a second to realize it was Snape. And he was with some kid that James thought was named Mulciber. Sirius had stopped next to the other two boys and James looked at his friends, raising his eyebrows, widening his eyes, and exhaling sharply. He wasn’t going to say anything, but Snape was.  
  
“Watch where you’re going. Don’t want to cause Mumsie any more shame by making a scene,” he said to Sirius. James was about to step forward, but Peter grabbed the back of his shirt, stopping him. “Hah! Maybe you need to get your brain checked as well as your eyes. Don’t run into me again or your glasses might break in a weird accident,” Snape threatened James.  
  
“Not a very witty threat, calling me out for having glasses!” James shouted at Snape’s retreating back.  
  
“Did he not see me?” Pete mumbled.  
  
James turned around, gaping at Peter. “You… wanted to be insulted?”  
  
“No, I mean,” Pete stammered. “It’s just, he addressed both of you, he could’ve at least noticed me, ya know?”  
  
Sirius barked in laughter. “It’s fine. He just wants to make a scene and it’s better he doesn’t target you for one. At least he doesn’t want to bully us for a specific reason. Then he’d probably his taunts would be better planned and aggressive.” Sirius paused, meeting James’s gaze. James looked at Sirius in concern. Why would he know so much about bullies? “I mean, I assume. I don’t really have experience with people other than my brother. Just spitballing, I guess.” James still wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t push it.  
  
“Maybe, that’s enough for tonight. It’s getting dark anyway. We should just get back to the tower.”  
  
“Good idea, Pete. Let’s go.” James kept looking at Sirius as they walked back, trying to make sure he was okay. Nothing seemed out of sorts, but he remembered his mum telling him to watch out for others, because people may seem fine but have problems underneath it all. Sirius’s mum had seemed pretty aggressive with the whole Howler thing, and everyone knew the Blacks had a reputation for being stern and very concerned about reputation. Maybe…? No, his mum couldn’t be doing anything bad, could she? James made a mental note to talk to Sirius about this later, and he let it slip his mind as he linked arms with the other boys, skipping through the halls. They only got yelled at by one Prefect, a Ravenclaw boy, on the way back to the Common Room, and James considered that a win.

  
***  
  


When Remus left the Common Room, he headed to the Hospital Wing to meet one Madam Pomfrey, as he had been instructed by Dumbledore. He thought back to that day.

  


”Remus, we are quite prepared to take care of you at Hogwarts, and we’d love to have someone as smart as you in our school. We have the excellent Madam Pomfrey working as a Healer in our Hospital Wing, who has educated herself to a grand extent on your condition and who you will meet on the night of the full moon, at least 2 or 3 hours before it happens. She will lead you to a house we’ve built in Hogsmeade, the nearest village, which has many protective spells on it, so you have no need to worry. This can only be entered by a tunnel that is blocked by a Whomping Willow, which, if you are unaware, is quite capable of stopping intruders. There is absolutely no need to worry, and we have sounds playing all year round, not just on full moons, so that way villagers will think it is haunted and have no suspicions.”

  


No need to worry. He took a deep breath before entering the Hospital Wing and knocking lightly on Madam Pomfrey’s office. “Come in!” a voice called, and Remus opened the door, lifting a hand in greeting. A kind looking woman with shoulder length, curly, dark hair sat behind the desk, and immediately stood up upon seeing Remus’s small form. Madam Pomfrey looked very formal, and Remus became very aware of his curly, mousy hair that he hadn’t tried to tame. “You must be Remus. Welcome in, I assume you’ve been told of our schedule this evening?” She made it sound like a nice dinner had been planned, but Remus nodded, smiling slightly, hoping it didn’t look like a grimace.  
  
“Alrighty. So, if you would, I’ll lead you out to the Whomping Willow.” Madam Pomfrey continued talking on the walk out of the castle, telling Remus how she would be coming at dawn to come get him, and that he should be prepared to miss classes while she made sure he healed. Remus tried to tell her that she couldn’t do anything to help heal him, that his body would do that on its own, but she brushed him off, saying she had to make sure he was well enough to attend classes.  
  
It was a little wet out as they entered the grounds, and Remus identified the tree immediately. All the trees looked normal, save the one that shot into motion as soon as anything neared it, supposedly, as Madam Pomfrey said, as a defense mechanism. It had been, as far as the other students knew, planted the summer before after being collected by Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher. After seeing it demolish a bird that approached it, to the despair of Remus, he began to realize they would meet the same fate if they tried to get to the passage that was supposedly by it. Madam Pomfrey seemed to be reading his mind as she spoke.  
  
“Now, there is a little knot in the wood at the bottom of the trunk, and touching that will stop its motion. There, see?” Remus looked and there was indeed a large knot in the wood, although he didn’t have faith that it would save his life. “Since we can’t approach it to get to the knot, we’ll have to levitate a rock or stick to touch it. You’ll learn the spell, but I’ll do it for you for now.” The Healer wordlessly pointed her wand at a rock on the ground, and it floated to the tree, tapping the knot with a thunk. Sure enough, as he had been told, there was a tunnel underneath the tree, by a root, and Madam Pomfrey steered him in that direction, straight at the tree.  
  
Remus was preparing to meet his end, but the tree miraculously stayed still as they went underground. He was led down a dark tunnel that ended in a trapdoor, which Remus opened and climbed up. Inside, there was a whole house. A small one, but still, Remus wasn’t used to it. Madam Pomfrey gave him a lecture about not moving too much until she got there in the morning so as to keep any wounds he got during the moon from getting worse. After she left, Remus walked around.  
  
It was just a small shack, but it was still nice. There was a bed, larger than the four poster in his dormitory, although much more rickety, and a small bathroom as well. It was definitely better than the basement he transformed in at home. That was what he was thinking about by the time the moon came. He remembered to put his clothes safely in a wardrobe to keep them from getting destroyed overnight. When the moon came, Remus was deep in his thoughts, and he let out a scream as his body changed shape, something no one could get used to even after 7 years. His mind slipped away as he let go to the wolf for the night.


	4. Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again - The Fortunes

It was around 11:30 in the morning and Sirius had already had the first three classes of the year and was in the Common Room on break. Lily had actively invited Sirius to hang out with the other girls and James and Peter had followed, so they were all sitting by the fireplace together when Remus finally came back from visiting his mum. The first thing Sirius noticed was that he looked very pale. The second thing he noticed was that he seemed to be limping slightly. The final thing that he noticed was that he had a little bit of blood on his pant leg. No one else seemed to make these connections, but it caused Sirius quite a bit of worry. What could have happened at his mother’s house to make his leg bleed and cause him to need to limp?  
  
“Hey,” Remus called, walking over to the group.  
  
“Remus! Where were you? You missed three classes! Defense Against the Dark Arts was so interesting, as was Charms, but History of Magic was quite dull. It’s taught by Binns, who is a ghost, so you’d think that’d be cool, but he is so boring and can’t seem to read anyone’s name correctly. I tried to tell him you were missing when he was reading everyone’s name and he thought I was saying I was Remus!” Lily spoke very quickly. Apparently she had decided the train ride made Remus and her great friends.  
  
“Yeah, but Charms was with Slytherins. At least History of Magic is with the Hufflepuffs,” James grinned. Lily rolled her eyes.  
  
“What happened to you? Your gang has been very secretive,” Marlene asked.  
  
“Just visiting my mum. She’s got a chronic disease and it acts up sometimes, so I visited. They probably were just trying to let me tell you being that it’s rather personal, I dunno.” Remus was still standing in the same spot, holding a small bag that must have held some overnight stuff.  
  
“Hey, I’ll take you back to the dormitory to put your stuff down,” Sirius suggested, and Remus nodded and followed him. Once they reached the steps, Sirius decided it was time to stop beating around the bush. “Your leg is bleeding and you’re limping. What happened to you?”  
  
“Oh!” Remus seemed legitimately shocked at the question. “Er. I, er…” Sirius saw Remus’s cheeks turning red at a high speed. “I fell down the stairs and hit my leg rather hard on the wall. It was really rather nasty. I was, er, hoping no one would notice. Kind of embarrassing, you know.”  
  
Sirius suddenly felt embarrassed himself for asking. “Yeah, er. Sorry for asking. I’ll keep it a secret, no worries. No notes from classes, they are all just going over the course and whatnot, so you didn’t miss much.”  
  
When they got back to their friends, it seemed, to Lily’s exasperation, that James had decided to tell everyone about the Great Lake idea. “So we were thinking that it is just so devastating that the lake is so dark and empty and it really needs something in it. I suggested an octopus or a squid. What do you think?”  
  
“You know, there are giant squids. That’d be dope,” Mary said, nodding solemnly for dramatic purposes, Sirius assumed.  
  
“Yes! And then it’d be bigger than just a normal octopus or squid!” Dorcas added.  
  
“You guys are ridiculous,” scoffed Lily, but she was smiling.  
  
“Er, you can’t ask me how, but I might be able to make that happen, for a cost…” Marlene said mysteriously.  
  
“I- What the bloody hell did I walk into and why is Marlene selling giant squids on the black market?” Remus asked slowly as Sirius laughed.  
  
“Come, sit down!” James called, slapping Sirius’s shoulder. Sirius ducked as a reflex, causing a weird look from Lily, but he cleared his throat and pretended nothing had happened.  
  
“So, Marlene?”  
  
“No questions for the moment, thanks. Contact me when you are 100% sure and are prepared to pay the prices.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms as if she were a princess.  
  
“What sort of price?” Pete asked shyly.  
  
Marlene thought for a moment. “The squid will have to be named after me,” she said after a moment.  
  
Sirius barked in laughter. “I think we can make that happen.”  
  
“Lunch time!” James said suddenly and very loudly.  
  
“Are you serious? We were in the middle of a deal!” Marlene countered.  
  
“No, I’m Sirius!” Everyone groaned at Sirius’s very witty, in his opinion, pun.  
  
“Nevermind, the vibe is gone, let’s go. Thanks for the reminder, Mumsie Jamie.” Mary stood up and she and Dorcas picked Marlene up, corralling her out of the portrait hole.

  
***  
  


After lunch, Remus realized that Lily was right. All the teachers were just introducing them to the course material. Sitting down in Transfiguration, McGonagall spent most of the class going through everyone’s names and telling them what they should expect from her class. Remus, in a post moon haze, felt his eyelids falling and was nudged awake twenty minutes later by Professor McGonagall as she walked around the room. He quickly muttered an apology but she just continued talking about the different types of Transfiguration.  
  
Remus was very embarrassed and hoped no one had noticed the exchange, but unfortunately, a note being pushed in front of him meant he didn’t have that luck.

  


How did you not lose points for falling asleep? -S

  


Remus glanced over at Sirius, who was raising his eyebrows for a response. Rolling his eyes, he scribbled a quick response.

  


I dunno. Pay attention, you don’t want to get in trouble on the first day of classes. Especially with McGonsies - R

  


A moment later, the note was pushed back on his desk.

  


McGonsies, that’s brilliant -S  
  
Of course it is, Remy is a genius -J  
  
Are neither of you paying attention to McGonsies? -P  
  
Would you guys pass the note to the intended recipient? Please? -S

  


Remus sighed and pushed the note into his bag without giving it a response. Sirius gave him a glare, and Remus felt his heart start beating faster before realizing it was a joke and he wasn’t mad. He thought at least everyone had gotten past him falling asleep, but apparently not. At the end of class, Lily stopped by to make sure he was okay, and he said he was, and as he was about to leave the room, McGonagall called him to the side.  
  
“Mr. Lupin,” was all she said once everyone else had left. He was screwed.  
  
“I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I won’t fall asleep in class again, I promise-” He was rambling, but McGonagall put a hand up, silencing him.  
  
“Mr. Lupin. I am not upset, I’m concerned. Maybe you should take the full day off after moons from now on. I don’t want you to be pushing yourself too hard.”  
  
Remus’s eyes widened. He wasn’t expecting that response from her. “Er, it’s fine. It won’t happen again. And I don’t want to miss classes. I’m fine, really.” McGonagall didn’t look convinced, but she let him leave. Furthering Remus’s surprise, his friends had stayed in the hall waiting for him. He started walking to the Common Room and as soon as they started walking, they started talking.  
  
“Did you lose points?” Peter asked.  
  
“Why’d you fall asleep anyway? Are you okay?” James added.  
  
“I can’t believe you didn’t respond to my note,” Sirius said solemnly.  
  
“Okay, too many people. Er, no I didn’t lose any points, although I thought she was going to be mad. I’m fine, just tired from travelling and stuff. And I am not going to get caught passing notes in McGonagall’s class, especially when I fell asleep for 20 minutes too. I can’t believe you want to get in trouble the first day.”  
  
“I can’t believe we have homework the first day! We didn’t get homework in any other classes and McGonsies expects us to write six inches about the different types of Transfiguration. She didn’t even tell us about that!” Sirius complained.  
  
“Sirius, it’s in the assigned reading she gave us, and six inches isn’t a lot. She said we should do this so we are prepared for the next class when she is going to teach us about it. Were you even listening?”  
  
“Of course I wasn’t listening, Remy. I’ve got you to do that for me!”  
  
“I’m not going to feed you notes and homework, Sirius.”  
  
Sirius let out a dramatic gasp. “I can’t believe you! I thought you loved me. How could you hurt me like this?”  
  
Remus paused. “I- I’m sorry?”  
  
“I’m only joking, Remy. It’s not my fault she didn’t say anything interesting.”  
  
“I thought it was really interesting, actually,” James said after giving the Fat Lady the password to get into the Common Room. “Don’t you think it’s dope that you can just change things?”  
  
“How good you are with words, James.” Peter pushed James’s shoulder lightly, laughing.  
  
“Very eloquent. Verbose,” Sirius teased.  
  
“Now you are as well, Siri.”  
  
“Don’t call me Siri, James. I’m not four. You, however, may be.”  
  
James and Sirius continued teasing each other, which progressed into a small wrestling match in the middle of the Common Room, which earned eyerolls from Lily Evans. Remus rolled his eyes as well, locking eyes with Lily and making a face to show that he did not condone this behavior. Remus walked over to Lily and suggested they get a start on the homework from Transfiguration, since James and Sirius didn’t seem available and Peter was too busy laughing at the other two. Lily graciously agreed and Remus sat down with the girls, getting into his Transfiguration textbook.


	5. Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble - Cat Stevens

A whole month had passed since school started, and Sirius was getting concerned about not having heard from Regulus. However, on the 4th of October, he got a reply from his letter home. It wasn’t very long, and mostly stressed how much Regulus missed him, but Sirius felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest and he could finally breathe. Regulus was okay. Remus, unfortunately, did not look okay. He was paler than usual and had bags under his eyes despite having slept the whole night.  
  
“Remy, you look really bad,” Sirius said in concern.  
  
Remus stared at him. “Thanks, Sirius. Very kind.”  
  
“He meant you look like you’re about to faint,” James added helpfully.  
  
“I’m fine!”  
  
“You’re not. I’m the mum of the group, I’ll take you to the Hospital Wing.” James stood up.  
  
“I’m fine, I promise! I don’t want to miss class, come on guys.” Remus looked at Sirius and Peter. “Back me up here!”  
  
“I already said you look bad. I’m not backing you up,” Sirius said, raising his hands in fake defense.  
  
“I mean, you know your boundaries usually, but seriously, you look ill. Go with Jamie,” Peter decided.  
  
Remus sighed, but left with James. Lily and Mary took their spots at the table. Peter began talking to Mary when Lily turned to Sirius.  
  
“I saw you got a letter. Is it from Regulus?”  
  
Sirius’s mouth opened. “How did you know?”  
  
Lily just grinned. “Magic.” She did jazz hands in front of her face. “So how is he?”  
  
“He’s fine. I’ll see him at Christmas, so it’ll be fine.”  
  
“I wish I were as close to my sister as you are with your brother.” Sirius didn’t respond, waiting to see if she wanted to elaborate. “Petunia’s a Muggle, and she’s mad about me being different.” Lily lowered her voice to whisper. “She even wrote to Professor Dumbledore asking to be accepted. I think she’s jealous, but I just wish she wouldn’t be so mad at me.”  
  
Sirius managed to keep a straight face through Petunia writing to Dumbles, and expressed sympathy to Lily. Regulus made life at home survivable. Sirius was getting uncomfortable talking about feelings, though, and was grateful when James came back with an insult for Lily, causing her and Mary to leave.  
  
“What’d she want with you?” James asked.  
  
“Lily came up and started talking to Sirius. I dunno why, but Mary wanted to talk about Herbology, so I didn’t pay attention to what Sirius and Lily were doing,” Peter told James.  
  
“She wanted to talk to you? What for?”  
  
“I dunno. Checking up on me. Just because you two hate each other and she doesn’t really know Pete doesn’t mean we aren’t friendly.”  
  
“Oooohhhhhhh. I see,” James said in a suggestive tone.  
  
Sirius felt his cheeks flush. “It’s not like that, you idiot. How’s Remus?”  
  
“He’s fine. Pomfrey didn’t look surprised and took him right in. He must have visited her last night or something.”

  
***  
  


Remus came back the next day, looking beat up again. Sirius was concerned, but it had to be bruising or something from being ill. He’d gotten better quickly and a week or so later, the four boys were in the Common Room together when Peter had a question.  
“What are we doing for Halloween?”  
  
“Dumbles does a whole feast and McGonsies lets older Gryffindors host a party,” James said offhandedly.  
  
“No, I mean. Er. I dunno, I saw some pranks in your trunk, Jamie.”  
  
Sirius gasped. Peter was brilliant. “You’re absolutely amazing, Peter.” He gave him a kiss on the cheek, making the other two laugh. “We will become prank masters of the school!”  
  
“There’s only two weeks for it to happen, though. Not a lot of time to plan,” Remus said, worriedly.  
  
“But we’re forgetting Marls and her giant squid black market deal!” James said loudly.  
  
Marlene glared from across the room. “Dude, are you having a stroke? I have no clue what you’re talking about.”  
  
“Yes you-” James started, but Sirius covered his mouth.  
  
“Shut your bloody mouth or everyone will know it is us!”  
  
“Riiiiight. Okay, so we just get her to get a squid and it will be a great prank!”  
  
“Sounds great. HEY!” Remus shouted. “Lils! Marls! Mary! Dorcas! Get your arses over here so we can talk to you without screaming shit across the whole bloody Common Room!”  
  
Sirius had noticed that Remus had a more… advanced vocabulary than the rest of them, something that he shared with Marlene.  
  
“Spilling my secrets to the school, I see. Are you ready to accept my deal?” Marlene said in lieu of greeting.  
  
“Yes we are,” Sirius said.  
  
“Wonderful! I’ll get back to you in about a week!” And that was all.

  
***  
  


Sure enough, a week and a half later, Marlene told them it would happen on Halloween. That was all she would say, but James was shaking with excitement.  
  
“This is going to be so dope! Are you ready for this, guys?”  
  
“Jamie, no offense, but this isn’t really a prank. I mean, we’re not even doing anything.”  
  
“Excuse you Pete. Don’t slander our dear friend James’s name just because he lacks a little something in his head. We did come up with the idea, did we not.”  
  
“Additionally, I’d feel pretty bloody pranked if a squid appeared in the damn lake out of nowhere,” Remus said.  
  
“Alright, alright. You’re right. Apologies, James.”  
  
James was too busy being offended by being told he had a lack of brains to accept Peter’s apology. He wasn’t too busy to tell them the first Quidditch game of the season was that night between Gryffindor and Slytherin and they absolutely had to go “or else.” Sirius was as excited as James about it, and Peter didn’t play but he followed Quidditch too. Remus didn’t seem to be as excited, but he was coming to support Gryffindor and got more excited as everyone else in the school did. By dinner time that Saturday, everyone was loudly discussing their outfits for the evening and who they were rooting for.  
  
“I can’t believe First Years can’t have brooms. I would’ve tried out if we could. The school brooms are trash, even I couldn’t win a game on one.”  
  
“Wow. I’m proud of you for having the courage to say that, James,” Remus said solemnly, crossing his heart and looking up to the heart as if praying. Peter put his hand on James’s shoulder, making the same face as Remus, and Sirius cackled. Well, he wouldn’t have called it that. It was really more of a bark, or normal laugh, but James wouldn’t let him live it down.  
  
“You know, I think there is a spell to make our clothes brighter for the game,” Remus said upon returning to the dormitory.  
  
“Oh? Dope!”  
  
By the time they left to go to the pitch, the four boys were decked out in bright red and gold, to James’s excitement. They took a seat next to Lily at the pitch and she and her friends fawned over how cool they looked until Remus did their robes as well.  
  
A kid named Ted Tonks, who was a Sixth Year Hufflepuff, was commentating the game. 15 brooms shot in the air, 7 Gryffindor, 7 Slytherin, and 1 Madam Hooch, who was reffing. Gryffindor got the ball first, throwing from Chaser to Chaser, and almost got to the other end of the pitch to score but a Bludger got in their path and Slytherin got possession.  
  
“Come on, Gryffs, you got this. Just keep it away from the Bludger next time!” Tonks called out to the crowds.  
  
“And a nasty move from Evan Rosier, slamming a Bludger at the opposite Seeker’s head, but it’s dodged by the Gryffindor, excellent work!”  
  
The Gryffindor section burst into cheers as they scored a goal against Slytherin.  
  
“And I missed a goal for Gryffindor! My bad. That’s 10-0, take that you bloody wankers!”  
  
“Mr. Tonks,” McGonagall interjected. She was overseeing Tonks’s commentation to make sure he didn’t say anything bad.  
  
James was jumping up and down as the end of the game neared and was almost about to explode when the Snitch was caught. By Slytherin. James moped all evening in the dormitories, and, despite being reminded that he wasn’t the one playing, refused to smile at all. He was bringing down the mood of everyone else, particularly since he was often the one to start things with Sirius and make life exciting.  
  
It wasn’t just James who was upset. Sirius was disappointed too. It would have been nice to really stick it to his family, him being in Gryffindor and them beating Slytherin, you know? And House pride and whatever, but Sirius was more sad because James was. Remus and Peter went to the library to get some homework done without everyone moping around, which left Sirius alone with James. James was buried in his blankets, pretending to be asleep, and Sirius knocked on his bedpost. There was no response so Sirius pulled off James’s blankets and climbed in next to him. He fell asleep there with James, both a bit happier than when they were moping alone.


	6. Children of the Grave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Children of the Grave - Black Sabbath

Remus was shaken awake early Halloween morning and, as he opened his eyes, he realized Marlene, Dorcas, Mary, and Lily were standing over him. Remus quickly pulled his covers all the way up.  
  
“What the bloody hell are you doing in here?” he shouted much louder than he meant to.  
  
“It’s ready,” Marlene said with a twinkle in her eye, wiggling her eyebrows.  
  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”  
  
“The squid?”  
  
“The- OH! Are the others up?”  
  
“Yeah but they were too scared to wake you from your slumber so early in the morning. Lame. So here I am, the amazing Marlene McKinnon, saving your ass from missing the fun!”  
  
“Alright, well I’m up. Can you leave so I can get dressed?”  
  
“Yeah, yeah. Come on, let’s go.” The four girls left and Remus scrambled to pull on some clothes and get out of the dormitory as soon as possible. His seven friends were waiting for him impatiently outside the dormitory. “What time is it even?”  
  
“5:30,” Peter supplied cheerfully.  
  
“You’re such a… morning person,” Remus said distastefully. “Alright, let’s see it.”  
  
“Wait, isn’t it too early for us to be allowed out?” Mary asked as they were about to leave the tower.  
  
“We already put a squid in the lake. Besides, that’s why we’re sneaking out and then sneaking back in.”  
  
“Okay, good point Dorcas.”  
  
It was chillier than Remus had accounted for, he realized when they got outside, and he was wishing he had thought to bring a sweater. James and Sirius were practically jumping up and down and Marlene was grinning as they got closer and closer to the lake. When they got to the end, they looked into the lake expectantly, not seeing anything. They stared for a minute at the dark water.  
  
“You jerk! There’s nothing there!” Sirius burst out.  
  
“There is so. Look!” Marlene pushed James into the lake, and after blubbering in the water for a second, a large tentacle picked James up and placed him back out of the water. Marlene grinned even more. “A giant squid! He’s named Marlene!”  
  
James spit water out on the ground. “Was that really the best way to get the squid to come out?” Marlene shrugged in response.  
  
“Worked, didn’t it? Besides, you could use a bath, Potter,” Lily snarked. James gasped indignantly and placed his hands over his heart.  
  
“Lily! How could you? I thought we were becoming friends!”  
  
“No. I’m friends with Remus and Sirius. You are an unfortunate side effect of hanging out with them. So, I’m not becoming friends with you. I’m becoming friends with Peter. And I’m already friends with the others.”  
  
“Well, I’m cold and soaked. Back inside.”

  
***  
  


At an appropriate hour, Remus got up again to go to breakfast. He grabbed some toast, as did Sirius, James and Peter, and the three of them went out to eat on the grounds, where they could watch the lake. Marlene had placed a sign at the shore of the lake, which Remus hadn’t noticed earlier, that said “Marlene the Giant Squid” and some kids were looking between the sign and the Black Lake, trying to tell if there was actually something in it. By the time he had finished eating, the girls were down by the lake as well, and James was trying to talk to Lily.  
  
“You’re insufferable, Potter,” Lily said after he tried to brag about his flying skills. There were quite a few other students around since people were still trying to find out if there was a squid in the lake.  
  
“How are they supposed to know the squid is in there?” James asked, resulting in Lily pushing him into the lake. Everyone else looked at them in surprise, and gasped as James was lifted out by a tentacle.  
  
“What is it with people pushing me into the bloody lake?!” James shouted. Unfortunately for him, Professor McGonagall had approached to see what everyone was congregating for.  
  
“Language, Potter. 5 points from Gryffindor. Where did the squid come from and why is it named Marlene?” McGonagall asked, waving her wand to dry James off. James started talking and Remus rolled his eyes, interrupting him.  
  
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out, Professor. So sorry about James’s language. I’ve no idea where he gets it from.” Sirius scoffed next to Remus and Remus gave a brief glare before returning to smile at McGonagall.  
  
“Anyone else know about this?” she asked some older students, who all gave a collective shrug. “Let me get the Headmaster.”  
  
A few minutes later, McGonagall returned with Dumbledore behind her. “It seems a giant squid has been placed into the lake and no one knows how.”  
  
“Is there really? Let’s see!” Dumbledore said excitedly.  
  
Remus helpfully pushed James into the lake, causing a tentacle to push him back out.  
  
“Seriously, why the bloody hell am I the one to show the squid?!” James shouted.  
  
“Calm down, Mr. Potter,” McGonagall said, waving her wand to dry him off again.  
  
“Wh-! So you’re not going to yell at Remus for pushing me in?”  
  
“Wow, thanks,” Remus remarked, making a face.  
  
“It did help to show the squid,” Dumbledore said thoughtfully. Remus glanced at him and accidentally locked eyes with him, looking away quickly as he remembered their first meeting at the Lupin house. “Well, I guess we’ll have to announce a new addition to the Hogwarts family. Everyone welcome Marlene the Giant Squid!”  
  
The students stared at Dumbledore for a second before Dumbledore bowed and everyone slowly started clapping awkwardly. They dispersed, whispering to one another about how the squid could have gotten into the lake and who might be behind it.  
  
“That was brilliant, Marls!” Sirius said, giving Marlene a high five.  
  
“What else did you expect?” Marlene said simply, spinning around and leaving with her friends.

  
***  
  


That night at the Halloween Feast, it seemed word of the giant squid had spread throughout the whole student body from the 20 students who had seen James get pushed in. When everyone got in, Dumbledore stood to make a speech.  
  
“It seems we have gotten a Giant Squid put into the Black Lake, so if everyone could give a warm welcome to Marlene. Additionally, if everyone would stop pushing people into the lake to get the squid to show itself, that’d be wonderful. If we see it happen again, points will be taken off, as this has happened many times over the day. Happy Halloween, and let’s eat!”  
  
It was one of the more comprehensible speeches Dumbledore made and everyone gladly dug into their food. There was a skeleton band playing various Wizard songs and there were huge pumpkins that Hagrid had grown in his garden placed around as decoration. Fake spider webs were also placed all around, hanging from the floating candles, and darker lighting that gave the Great Hall a very spooky vibe.  
  
“Boo!” Sirius said, having snuck up behind Peter. Peter jumped, choking on his food, making James slap him on the back so he could breathe.  
  
“Behave, Siri,” James warned.  
  
“Alright, Mum.” Sirius rolled his eyes. “When’s the Gryffindor party starting?”  
  
“I dunno, after dinner?” Peter answered helpfully.  
  
“No kidding. When, though?”  
  
“I don’t know. At least I was helpful instead of making you choke on your food!”  
  
“Oo. He got you there, Siri,” Remus said, laughing at Sirius’s glare. The glare used to make him worried Sirius was mad, but Remus had learned that Sirius fake glared a lot to be funny and had gotten used to it. “Also, it starts at 8, I think.”  
  
“Nah, it starts in 30 minutes. They changed it to start earlier,” James said, shoveling in food.  
  
Sirius nodded, thanking James. James patted Sirius on the back, and Remus thought he saw Sirius flinch but it might have been a trick of the light or something. They left the Great Hall with a bunch of Gryffindors several minutes later to eat snacks and pudding in the Gryffindor Tower instead.  
  
In the Common Room, there were loads of snacks and drinks set up and there was even a table in the corner with some Firewhisky for older students that McGonagall obviously didn’t know about. Sirius jumped on a couch by the fireplace, claiming it before more people came in so everyone would have somewhere to sit. The four boys sat down and James started ranting about how brilliant the squid in the lake was while the Common Room got populated.

  
***  
  


The Marauders thought of their group name while huddled by the fire during the Gryffindor Halloween party after the girls had shown up. James had recently started calling them a foursome and Remus, the only one who wasn’t completely innocent, was over the reactions the rest of Gryffindor was having to this. Remus and Marlene were the least innocent, despite James and Sirius’s reputation as troublemakers due to an abundance of class disruptions leading in many detentions.  
  
“You need to stop calling us a foursome, Jamie. Rumors are going to start.”  
  
“They already have, don’t worry!” Marlene called from where she was sitting with Lily, Dorcas, and Mary. “I made sure of it.” The 8 of them were sitting across from each other in front of the fireplace, the girls on one couch and the boys on the couch opposite them.  
  
Remus threw the nearest object at her, which was only a couch cushion, and Marlene flipped him off.  
  
“Why? What’s wrong with saying that. It’s true,” James protested.  
  
Marlene burst out in cackles and Remus grimaced. “James. Please.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“You’re kind of implying, er…” Remus couldn’t get through the sentence and he felt his face turning red. “Er, that’s kind of implying a… sexual… aspect to our relationship,” he mumbled.  
  
James’s jaw dropped, Sirius snorted, and Peter looked very embarrassed. “Ha! That’s great!” James said after a moment.  
  
“I think Pete over there will die of embarrassment if you keep doing that, Jamie,” Marlene said, to which Peter coughed and nodded in agreement.  
  
“Well, who has any better ideas?”  
  
“Funny that you asked, because I’ve been thinking of good nicknames.” Sirius pulled out a roll of parchment, grinning. “The Squad, the Gang, Bromies, Merlin’s Wenches--”  
  
“I really hope you’re joking, because those are bloody terrible,” Remus interrupted, causing Sirius to gasp in indignation.  
  
“Remus is right,” Marlene added, to the agreement of the girls, Pete, and James.  
  
“Okay, Marls, you give us a better idea,” Sirius said, sticking out his tongue.  
  
“Oo, I’m so offended by your actions. What would your mother say to your responses, you posh Lord? Whatever. I was thinking, the Losers, or the Marauders, or some shit, I don’t care.” Marlene rolled her eyes and spun herself around so her legs were sticking up towards the ceiling and she was upside down on the couch.  
  
“Wait a second. The Marauders. I like that, that’s kind of groovy,” James said, pushing Sirius’s arm. “Write that down.”  
  
“It does have pretty good vibes. I dig it. Hang on, lemme get a quill.” Sirius began scrambling around, looking for something to write with.  
  
“Oh lord, don’t write it down, you may as well burn your list, the names are terrible. Just stick with the Marauders,” Peter said, grabbing the parchment from Sirius, balling it up, and throwing it into the fire.  
  
Sirius gasped. “How dare you? I thought you were on my side, you heathen!” He flipped his hair dramatically and tackled Peter.  
  
“Okay, I think that’s enough for tonight. We still have class tomorrow.” Remus pulled Sirius off of the floor, shooting the girls a peace sign.  
  
“Bye, Remus,” Lily called.  
  
“Yeah, bye, losers!” Marlene shouted at them. Dorcas and Mary just waved back at them as the boys retired to their dorm and collapsed into their beds.


	7. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friends - Elton John

Remus claimed to be visiting his ill mum and his friends didn’t seem suspicious, so that was good. He returned Wednesday evening to an empty dormitory, and his friends weren’t in the Common Room either. Remus walked over to Lily and the girls sitting in the Common Room to ask what had happened.  
  
“Potter and the other two threw a firework into Sev’s potion and he got covered in boils,” Lily said angrily. “I can’t believe him! Why can’t he just leave Sev alone?”  
  
Remus had his own opinions about Snape, but Lily was friends with him for some reason and Remus really didn’t want to get in a fight with her. “So are they all in detention?”  
  
“Yeah, with Sluggy,” Dorcas said.  
  
“Sluggy?” Remus raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Slughorn. Sluggy. Did you know he has a club for students that he likes? He just brings them in for dinners and parties, and most of them are there because they have rich families,” Mary responded.  
  
Remus’s mouth opened in shock. “How did you figure this out?”  
  
Lily blushed which only confused Remus more. “Lils here got an invitation, as did James and Sirius,” Marlene said, laughing.  
  
“Oh! Er- Congratulations, Lily.” Remus rubbed the back of his neck. He immediately felt guilty when a rush of jealousy pushed itself into Remus. He just wanted to be happy for Lily, it’s not like he was particularly good at Potions. It was one of his worst subjects, actually. Peter was the best of the Marauders at Potions, actually. It was Pete’s second best subject, behind Herbology. “Er, when did you get the invitation? I didn’t hear about James and Sirius’s.”  
  
“Oh, it was while you were off visiting your mum. How is she, by the way? I do hope she’s doing better,” Lily said, seeming glad to change the subject.  
  
“Oh! She’s fine,” Remus said, wincing internally at his response. He needed to be more convincing. “Much better, actually. She just has her bad moments, you know.”  
  
“Yeah, like you do.” Lily nodded solemnly.  
  
Remus furrowed his eyebrows. “Wh- what do you mean?” How had she found out? His heart started beating faster and he couldn’t breathe.  
  
“In October. You got ill. I kind of thought you had the same disease as your mum. You know, like a hereditary thing. I guess I was wrong?” Lily was blushing and seemed embarrassed.  
  
“Oh. No, yeah, I- er- do? I just didn’t realize you had figured it out.” Remus was punching himself internally. He had no idea how the conversation had shifted so much. Now he had the same disease as his mum? Oh no. “Er, I should go wait for my friends to get out of detention. Should be ending soon, yeah?”  
  
“Actually, it only started 15 minutes ago,” Mary said, but Remus had already rushed out of the Common Room.  
  
He realized as he stood outside the portraithole that he had left all his things in the dormitory and he had no clue where he was going. He just started walking and let his feet guide him and eventually found himself outside the library. Remus stood outside the doors for a moment when someone walked up behind him.  
  
“You gonna go in or just stand there?” the voice said. Remus turned around and found a Ravenclaw boy standing behind him. He had dark hair and a darker complexion than Remus. “Benjy Fenwick. First year. You’re Remus, yeah?” He stuck out his hand, which Remus shook nervously.  
  
“Yeah. How do you know me?”  
  
“We’re in Transfiguration together. You’re Potter’s friend, yeah? You two are the best in the class, you know.” Remus blushed. “You know, I came here to do some Transfiguration studying, actually. Do you think you could help me, or…? I dunno what you were here for, so don’t feel obligated or anything.”  
  
“No, yeah, definitely. I just came for-” Remus gestured broadly. “Er, yeah. The others are in detention, so I can help.” Remus paused. “You’re in my Astronomy class too, yeah?”  
  
“Yeah, I am. Black has an unfair advantage in Astronomy, being named after a star and everything.” Remus didn’t know how to respond, but Benjy chuckled so Remus did too.  
  
Remus had difficulty making friends, being as he had spent his childhood away from kids his age, but Benjy made easy conversation and wasn’t that bad at Transfiguration. Remus helped Benjy with his pronunciation a bit and soon enough his match had turned so fully into a needle that it didn’t set on fire at all. Remus didn’t notice how long it had been until his friends walked into the library, loudly looking for him. Remus stuck his hand in the air and waved it around and the three boys approached them.  
  
“Remus! Lily said you were back. I didn’t know you had the same thing as your mum,” Peter said in lieu of a greeting.  
  
Remus gaped at Peter and James elbowed Peter so hard the boy doubled over. Sirius, ignoring the small scene they were causing, cleared his throat.”I didn’t know you had other friends. I’m Sirius.” Sirius flashed a smile that made Remus smile back and stuck his hand out to Benjy.  
  
“Benjy Fenwick,” the Ravenclaw responded, shaking Sirius’s hand and smiling back.  
  
“Oh! You’re in our Astronomy class! You’re better than me, which is surprising since my whole family is named after stars.” Sirius made a face that James snickered at.  
  
“That’s what I said!” Benjy exclaimed. “That you had the advantage of being named after stars, not that I’m better than you,” he corrected quickly. “Thanks, though.” Sirius nodded.  
  
Remus bid Benjy good night and walked back to the Common Room with James, Sirius, and Peter. “I can’t believe you blurted that out in front of everyone!” James said to Peter once they had gotten into the dormitory.  
  
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us!” Peter said.  
  
“I can’t believe you have other friends!” Sirius added, doing an exaggerated frown.  
  
“I- er- didn’t mean to tell Lily, actually. I didn’t want you to worry. I’m fine. And I just met Benjy today while you three were in detention! I can’t believe you did that!” Remus said sternly.  
  
Sirius lowered his gaze to the ground. “Sorry Remus.”  
  
“How could you prank Snape without me there? I didn’t get to see it!”  
  
Sirius looked up slowly, grinning widely. “I guess we’ll have to prank him again,” James said with a sly smile. “We’ll have to go through all my things from Diagon Alley and we might have to sneak into Hogsmeade to go to Zonko’s for some more supplies. Do you think they’ll notice four 11 year olds and kick us out?”  
  
“Er- I’m 12, actually,” Sirius muttered, shifting on his feet.  
  
“What! When! Why didn’t you tell us!” James shouted, covering his mouth when he realized how loud he was.  
  
Sirius looked even more uncomfortable. “Er- Today,” he said extremely quietly.  
  
“What?!” Remus yelled.  
  
“Wait what did he say?” James asked.  
  
“I dunno. He was too quiet for me to hear, you must have great hearing, Remy,” Peter said.  
  
Now Remus was uncomfortable. He had forgotten that he could hear better than normal humans. “Today.”  
  
“What?!” James and Peter exclaimed.  
  
“Yeah, I used to have these really big parties every year that weren’t for me. They were for the rest of my family and my parents to show me off to other families, you know. The usual. Anyway, they sent me some money since I’m at Hogwarts, but whatever. Not a big deal, so I didn’t want to make you think you should do anything for it.”  
  
“Not a big deal?!” James was practically screaming. “You’re the oldest of the Marauders and it ‘isn’t a big deal’?!” James opened the door to the dormitory and walked halfway down the steps to the Common Room. “Hey! MARLS! DORCAS! MARY! EVANS!” Four what’s came from the Common Room. “Sirius is older than you now!”  
  
The four girls walked over to the steps leading to the dormitory. “Really? Happy birthday!” Dorcas said.  
  
“That’s it?!” James said loudly. Some older kids in the Common Room were starting to look a mixture of amused and annoyed.  
  
“What are we supposed to do, present him with gifts and see if they are satisfactory?” Lily snarked.  
  
“HE DIDN’T TELL US! OR ME! HIS BEST FRIEND!” James yelled.  
  
“Okay, first of all, that statement of best friendship is going to make Peter my best friend if you keep it up,” Remus said, high fiving Peter. “Secondly, you don’t have to yell.”  
  
“It’s the principle of the matter!” James continued.  
  
“No I get it,” Marlene said seriously. “I mean, how dare he not tell someone he’s known for, what, two months the time of his birth? That’s such an important detail, the first thing you tell someone is your name and your birthday,” she deadpanned.  
  
“Exactly!” James said, nodding at Marlene, who screwed up her eyebrows and blinked in confusion.  
  
“It was sarcasm, you bloody idiot,” Remus called from the edge of his bed. “Besides, you and Sirius haven’t told me that you got invited to Sluggy’s cult yet, so maybe use your own principles.”  
  
“It’s a stupid club, I’m not going. I don’t want to eat dinner with some posh, rich kids, no offense Siri, and Snivellus,” James scoffed, crossing his arms.  
  
“Okay, I’m not denying the posh, rich statement, but when did we start calling me Siri?”  
  
“I’m Jamie or Mumsie, Remus is Remy, Peter is Pete or Petey, and you’re Siri,” James said simply.  
  
“Plus Marlene is Marls, Dorcas is a dork, Mary is just Mary, and Lily is Lils,” Remus added.  
  
“You know what, I don’t think we’re necessary to this conversation,” Mary said.  
  
“Yeah, I don’t need your name calling. I’ve got Marlene for that,” Dorcas added and the four of them sat back down in the Common Room.  
  
“Okay, but back to your birthday, we’ll celebrate this Saturday,” James declared, sitting down on his bed.  
  
Sirius sighed but agreed.

  
***  
  


James ended up forcing them to go to bed early so they could sleep before their midnight Astronomy class. Sirius took about five minutes to get out of bed, but he quickly changed and messed with his hair quickly before they trudged to the Astronomy tower. He tried his best to stifle his yawns and focus on the professor and the pretty sky above him, but it was very hard. He’d reached his limit when he let out a huge yawn about halfway through the lesson, which the Professor noticed and wasn’t happy about.  
  
“Alright, Mr. Black,” the Professor said. Sirius tried his best to hide his flinch. “Since you seem to think you should be sleeping instead of in class, I presume you can tell us the three stars in Orion’s belt?”  
  
“Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka,” he said smoothly. He might not be good at Astronomy, but his father had made him learn the stars in the Orion constellation. The professor looked rather shocked to have gotten a correct response and nodded before returning to the lesson. Sirius scratched his head and yawned again, blocking out the lesson for the rest of the class.  
  
When they got back to the dormitory with an assignment on the moon cycle, which Remus had looked very unhappy about being assigned, Sirius was more than happy to get into his bed and go to sleep. While usually an early riser, after a midnight class, he was glad to have a late start to classes on Thursday.


	8. Coat of Many Colors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coat of Many Colors - Dolly Parton
> 
> Story updated 1/24 to add spaces between paragraphs because I hate when it isn't formatted like that

James had written to his parents immediately after he got a moment alone when he heard it was Sirius’s birthday to get a present ordered as fast as it could. Luckily, on Saturday, the day of Sirius’s birthday party, James had just received his present and was prepared. Whenever James, Peter, and Remus found themselves without Sirius, they had been planning the party. Peter had made invitations for the four girls and someone named Andromeda, who Sirius had insisted be invited.  
  
The party was set for after dinner, at 7 in their dormitory. James sat on the bed alone, Peter and Remus getting dessert and Sirius fixing his hair, and bounced his leg up and down. He was very nervous, which was strange considering it wasn’t his birthday, but he couldn’t help it. A knock on the door caused him to jump and he ran to the door, pausing for a second so as to seem nonchalant upon opening the door. He grinned as he turned the doorknob, but his eyebrows crinkled when he saw who was in front of him. It was an older girl with dark hair who James was pretty sure he hadn’t seen before. But then it dawned on him.  
  
“Andromeda?” he asked, pointing at her.  
  
“Hullo James. Nice to meet you. Sirius has told me a lot about you during our biweekly Sunday tea! I hear you really like Quidditch. Trying out for the team next year?” Andromeda asked.  
  
“You have tea with Sirius every other week?”  
  
Andromeda let out a laugh. “Had you not noticed?”  
  
James shrugged and instead decided to answer her previous question. He was halfway through a rant about the pros and cons of each Quidditch team when the door opened to reveal Peter and Remus holding a slightly misshapen cake. James stopped talking, gaping at his friends. “I- What happened?” Peter was covered in frosting and Remus in powdered sugar.  
  
“Er. There was a small explosion. But look how beautiful our cake is!” Remus exclaimed.  
  
“Beautiful?” said someone from behind Remus. It was Marlene, who was approaching with Lily, Mary, and Dorcas.  
  
“Of course it’s beautiful. What other word could describe this wonderful cake?” Peter asked, smiling as Remus glared beside him, daring anyone to say something bad about it.  
  
“It’s great. Absolutely superb. Can you move so we can come in?” Mary asked, touching Peter’s shoulder to guide him to the side.  
  
James was left in charge of introductions while Peter and Remus left to clean off. “So that was Peter and Remus. Pete’s the shorter one and Remus is the one who looks like he’s going to collapse all the time. The mean redhead is Evans, the nice one is Mary, the quiet one is Dorcas, and that leaves the wonderful Marlene, who words cannot describe. Everyone, this is Andromeda, Sirius’s favorite cousin. She is a sixth year Slytherin,” James finished, tilting his head towards Andromeda to make sure she’d understood everything.  
  
“Sirius has mentioned all of you. I’ve heard Marlene and Remus are the bad influences, although the rest of the school seems to think Remus is the good influence.”  
  
“Really? Our reputation is that big?! The school loves the Marauders!” James shouted, standing up with his hands in the air and spinning, bowing to fake applause.  
  
Andromeda scoffed. “Well, if by reputation you mean a reputation of slightly psychotic, very loud Gryffindor boys, then yes. You’re infamous.”  
  
“Hah! We’re famous!” James said.  
  
“Infamous,” Dorcas said, rolling her eyes. “Like famous but in a bad way.”  
  
“Oh,” James paused. “Good enough for me!”

  
***  
  


Sirius walked back into the door chewing his lip. He wasn’t used to being celebrated and was a bit worried about the impending party, but as he walked into the dorm, it appeared everyone was getting along quite well. Dorcas and Mary were trying to get Andromeda to teach them cool spells and Lily and James were arguing while Marlene baited them. Remus and Peter had passed him as he left the bathroom, apparently having had an accident baking and needing to clean up. Sirius cleared his throat lightly, trying to smile, but realizing it was more of a grimace.  
  
“Happy birthday, lovely,” Andromeda smiled, pulling Sirius into a hug. Sirius didn’t move, his arms at his side, but James came up beside him and moved Sirius’s arms to hug Andromeda back.  
  
“Andromeda’s very striking,” James muttered to Sirius.  
  
“She’s my cousin, you jerk!” he hissed back.  
  
James shrugged. “Not mine.”  
  
“Kind of is though. Related I mean. The whole Pureblood relation thing, you know?”  
  
James rolled his eyes. “She’s cool, I meant. Pretty too, but that wasn’t my point.”  
  
“Yeah Andy’s dope.”  
  
“Aw, that’s sweet,” Andromeda said.  
  
James’s mouth dropped open. “Er, how much did you hear?” he asked nervously, making Sirius laugh.  
  
“Just the last bit, although now I’m intrigued.”  
  
Sirius snickered, but James was saved from answering when Remus and Peter came back from the bathroom.  
  
“We made you a beautiful cake, Siri,” Peter said.  
  
“Sirius,” he muttered under his breath. Remus frowned slightly, but no one else seemed to have heard. In fact, Sirius didn’t really know how Remus had heard him. Maybe he hadn’t.  
  
“Well should we dig in?”  
  
“Wait, but I got you a present!” Dorcas said quickly.  
  
Sirius took a box from her, opening it to reveal several somewhat cylindrical pieces of plastic. Sirius looked at her, confused, and she sighed, taking it from him and clicking it to show that it wrote.  
  
“Wait, what?” Sirius asked.  
  
“It’s a pen. Because quills and ink are stupid,” Dorcas said.  
  
“But, doesn’t it need ink?”  
  
“The ink’s inside it, weirdo,” Dorcas laughed, as did Lily.  
  
“Well thank you. I didn’t know this type of thing existed,” Sirius said, ignoring the looks of shock on everyone’s face, including James and Marlene, who he knew were both Purebloods. Was he really raised so differently than everyone?  
  
He was interrupted from his thoughts by a box from Lily, which contained a squishy ball with a note explaining that it was for stress. Marlene gave him a statue of a little boy peeing, that was apparently the Mannequin Pis, a well known statue in Belgium. Sirius laughed a lot at that, and Marlene smiled, having gotten the effect she had wanted. Last from the Gryffindor girls was Mary, who had given him a small plant that was supposed to help you sleep.  
  
“Figured you might need it, what with all these loud boys living with you,” she said when he opened it.  
  
Sirius felt himself relaxing a bit in the company of his friends. He wished Regulus were here with him, but tried not to think about it. “You didn’t have to get me presents, you know. It’s just another year that I’m alive. We never really celebrate this stuff at my house.”  
  
Andromeda put a hand on his shoulder. “Just because we don’t doesn’t mean you shouldn’t,” she said before lowering her voice so only he could hear her. “Always remember that you are better than the Black family reputation. Don’t follow their path, make your own.” She raised her voice to a normal tone again. “Anyway, here’s my present for you.”  
  
Sirius opened her gift to see something that she said was a record player. She then gave him his first record, an album called Coat of Many Colors by someone called Dolly Parton. “She’s a Muggle singer from the United States. Figured you could make a record collection and that’d be something you’d like.” Sirius smiled widely and nodded in thanks.  
  
“Er, I didn’t really have time to get you anything so I made you a cake. Well, Remus helped,” Peter said, looking at the ground. “Sorry.”  
  
“I did nothing except make a mess. It was all Pete,” Remus said, clapping Peter’s shoulder.  
  
“Thank you Peter. I’m sure it will be delicious.” Peter raised his eyes and smiled, biting his finger.  
  
“I didn’t really get you anything either,” Remus said, handing him a box.  
  
“He says, passing a present,” Marlene commentated, to which Remus threw a pillow at her.  
  
Sirius opened up the present, which revealed a book. It was the book he’d read the first morning at Hogwarts. James and the Giant Peach. Sirius grinned, opening the book to see a small inscription from Remus. “Thank you, Remy. It’s an excellent gift.”  
  
“Okay, I’m last. Here we go. Are you ready?” James said, bouncing.  
  
Sirius nodded, getting a bit nervous, knowing James might have overdone it. “It’s dungbombs!” he blurted out as he handed the present over.  
  
“Way to spoil the surprise,” Sirius said, laughing. He opened the gift to reveal that it was, indeed, dungbombs. He thanked everyone again for their gifts, feeling a bit overwhelmed with everyone looking at him with nothing to do. “Er, cake!”

  
***  
  


As everyone got cake, Andromeda started talking about something she had apparently been thinking about for a while. “The squid, right? Where did it come from? I’ve no idea who thought that up, but they deserve a pat on the back. Made the lake a lot more interesting too. There used to be just nothing there.”  
  
Sirius smiled as he saw Remus trying as hard as he could to keep from laughing. He failed when he snorted suddenly, tears running down his cheeks as he burst out laughing. Sirius raised his eyebrows at Remus, as did Andromeda.  
  
“I feel as though I’m missing something,” Andromeda said slowly.  
  
“Well, you see Andy. Er- that was us,” Sirius admitted. Andromeda raised her eyebrows. “The eight of us. Mostly Marlene. She got it, I’ve no clue how. We didn’t ask. I’m too scared of her to try to make her reveal her secrets.”  
  
“And yet you just did,” Marlene said in an annoyed voice that Sirius realized was fake when she winked at him.  
  
“Wow. Well, I did not expect that!” Andromeda said. “But congratulations. It was an excellent prank. Really improved Hogwarts too.”  
  
Sirius was feeling almost completely relaxed as the evening went on, everyone getting along well. Andromeda didn’t seem to be any older than the rest of his friends and she didn’t act above them as his other cousins often did. When it came to be 10, Sirius was disappointed to say goodnight to everyone. The cake had been long finished off and everyone was getting tired out, not to mention the fact that Andromeda had to be back to her dorm by 10:30, as per the curfew. He waved goodbye to everyone before collapsing back onto his bed with a smile.  
  
The rest of the Marauders were still talking about something, and Sirius thought they asked him something, but he was too busy being overwhelmed by happiness to respond. This was what he wanted his life to be like. Hanging out with his friends, away from his family. He kept thinking back on the party as he fell asleep to the conversation of his friends.


	9. Venus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Venus - Shocking Blue

Peter and his friends had finished an excellent lunch when they remembered they had Flying Lessons and had to make their way down to class. While Sirius and especially James were thrilled about flying and had spent all previous classes showing off, Peter found strength in the fact that Remus was as nervous as Peter, if not more. The four boys rushed off to the Training Grounds, Peter lagging behind the others, breathing hard as they practically ran so as not to be late. Arriving just in time, they each took their place to the left of a broom.

“I’m horrid at flying,” Pete whined to Remus.

“I’m worse, don’t worry. Don’t know why we need to do this. I’d rather stay on the ground, yeah?” he replied.

“Everyone mount your brooms and kick off to hover three feet above the ground. Come on, all of you should be able to do this. We’ve had several lessons already!” Madam Hooch was saying, blowing her whistle.

Peter shoved his hand over his broom, commanding it to fly into his hand. It took three tries but it soon lifted into his right hand and he mounted it unsteadily. Once he got himself off the ground, wobbling slightly, James grinned at him from a few brooms over and gave him a peace sign. Peter gave a peace sign back before realizing his mistake and losing his balance, falling to the ground. Remus, who hadn’t gotten off the ground yet, rushed over to make sure he was okay. Snape, meanwhile, was snickering with his gang of Slytherin. He took Remus’s hand and stood up, glancing at the girls, who seemed mostly sympathetic. Mary gave him a small smile, although Marlene was clearly trying to keep from cackling.

“‘Least you got off the ground,” Remus said. “I’m trash. I can’t get the bloody broom into my hand.”

“Language, Mr. Lupin. I expected better from you,” Madam Hooch said, rushing over. “Pettigrew, are you alright?”

Peter felt his face going red and muttered a quick yes, although Hooch’s yellow eyes narrowed, uncertain.

“Lupin, accompany Pettigrew to the Hospital Wing to make sure he doesn’t have any injuries. For the rest of you, let’s continue our lesson!”

  


***

  


Back in the castle, Remus pushed Pete’s shoulder lightly.

“Look, I know you didn’t do that on purpose, but I’m glad we got out of class.” The auburn boy was smiling widely, his freckled face and slight dimples making him seem younger than he was.

“Yeah, yeah. Glad my pain is helpful,” Peter said dramatically. “Where’s the Hospital Wing again?”

“Oh! I know the way,” Remus said, skipping a few steps ahead and leading the way.

Peter found himself wishing he was as carefree as Remus was when he was happy. Whenever Remus got happy, he became very bubbly and excited, and seemed to loosen up more than his usual slight discomfort, and Peter wished he could express himself as unfiltered as Remus did without being scared of being made fun of. Soon enough, they reached the Hospital Wing where the school Healer, Madam Pomfrey, greeted them. There was only one other person in the wing, an older boy whose skin had been turned scaly.

“How can I help you, Mr Lupin. And Mr…?” Madam Pomfrey asked.

“Pettigrew. Peter. How do you know Remus already?” he asked.

“I was sick that one time, remember?” Remus reminded him.

“What seems to be the issue, my boys?”

“Er, I fell off my broom and Madam Hooch said to make sure that I had no injuries. She sent Remus along because he’s hideous on a broom anyway.”

Madam Pomfrey chuckled while Remus turned red, and gestured towards a bed, where Peter sat down. She did a few different tests, asking where he fell and if anything hurt, checking to make sure there were no injuries. After a few minutes, she seemed satisfied to send them back to class, after giving Pete a small potion to help with any bruising.

“Thanks, Madam Pomfrey!” Peter called as they left the Hospital Wing and returned to class.

When they got back to the Training Grounds, the rest of the class was practicing throwing and catching Quaffles. Sirius and James were partnered and spent a lot of time doing fancy throws and spinning around on their brooms. Lily was partnered with Mary, and Snape kept giving them glances and frowning. They were doing fine, but fumbled the ball a lot. Marlene and Dorcas were both fine flyers but kept bumping into each other’s brooms.

“Get up on your brooms and I’ll give you two a Quaffle. Hurry!” Madam Hooch said to Peter and Remus as they approached.

“Damn. Really thought we’d get out of class,” Remus said after the teacher had gone to another pair.

The two of them were in the air with their Quaffle within the next few minutes and Peter tried to throw the Quaffle to Remus, who missed the catch, and the ball fell to the ground. Peter retrieved it since he could get in the air faster than Remus, and tried it again. Remus almost caught it and then finally managed to catch the ball the fifth time Peter threw it.

“Nice job, Remy!” Peter called.

Remus whooped and did a small dance, almost falling off his broom in the process. He then prepared himself to throw it back to Peter, who caught it the first try. They threw it back and forth for a while after with only a few fumbles. Remus even went to get the ball a few times when it fell and had gotten significantly better at mounting his broom. After about fifteen minutes, they had gotten a streak of ten throws without dropping the Quaffle, Madam Hooch said to get off their brooms, and the two of them flew side by side, giving each other a high five.

“We make a pretty good team, yeah?” Peter smiled.

“Absolutely. Pretty dope team, or groovy, as James would say,” Remus responded, laughing.

Peter laughed with Remus and it made it significantly more difficult to get off his broom, but he managed. Madam Hooch dismissed the class and James and Sirius walked over.

“What’s so funny?” James asked.

“You,” Remus replied.

“Looks funny at least,” Sirius mumbled, getting a shove from James.

“What’d I do?” James inquired.

“Use the word ‘groovy,’” Peter responded.

James gasped, putting his hand on his chest. “Are you implying that groovy is not hip?”

“We’re not implying anything. We’re telling you that you’re a weirdo,” Remus said and Sirius tried to hide a laugh with a cough.

“And to think I was going to compliment your flying!” James sighed dramatically and placed the back of his hand to his forehead as if he was going to faint.

“So, Regulus’s birthday is in about a month and I don’t know what to get him,” Sirius said, changing the subject.

“Oh, I see. So you’ll tell us your brother’s birthday a month in advance but not yours?”

“Merlin’s beard, James, that was two weeks ago! Now help me with my problem!”

“We don’t know Regulus, Sirius,” Peter said quietly. “What is he like?”

“Well, he plays piano and speaks French just like me. We had to learn because we’re Blacks,” Sirius explained. “But he likes when Andromeda plays Muggle music too. He wouldn’t like anything too Muggle though because he doesn’t want to upset our parents. He is quite fond of piano, even though he was forced to play it. And he really likes reading. Like, more than Remy. Reads classics, non-fiction, fantasy, all genres really.”

“More than me?!” Remus asked. “Well, get him some books then. You could get him Shakespeare. He’s pretty famous in the Muggle world but also popular among us magic folk, so it shouldn’t make your parents too mad.”

Sirius seemed to be contemplating this and nodded after a minute. Peter, meanwhile, was still confused about why Sirius wasn’t allowed to have anything Muggle. He couldn’t believe that his parents were that strict. Now that he thought about it, though, Peter had no clue what Sirius’s home life was like. His parents had told him that a lot of wizards were getting very prejudiced against Muggles and Muggle-Borns, but he had never expected to hear of anyone who actually was like that.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by Remus reminding them they had the whole rest of the day off except for Astronomy at midnight. In the Common Room, Sirius left to go write a letter to his brother, and Remus sat to the side, writing an essay for Transfiguration that wasn’t due for another week.

“Wanna play Wizard’s Chess?” Pete asked James, who agreed happily.

The two of them played for a while, James going a bit easy on Pete, but he didn’t mind. It wasn’t as fun when James played his best because he would win in five minutes, but like this, the game could go on longer. Every so often, James gave Peter a few tips on his gameplay and Peter was happy to get better. Even though James was better than him, Peter was at least better than Sirius and Remus at chess. The other two were hopeless, despite them being very smart otherwise.

“Another round?” James asked, and they reset the chessboard.

“Pawn to e4,” Peter said, stifling a yawn.

“Knight to f6,” James responded.

James won, as he always did, but Peter didn’t mind. After the game ended, Sirius had returned from sending his letter and Remus had finished his essay, so they sat down by the fire, abandoning the chessboard.

“I’m cool, right?” James asked, after a moment’s silence.

“What do you mean?” Sirius responded.

“I mean, is it lame that I say groovy and hip and dope?”

“Jamie, we were only joking,” Remus said softly.

“I know, but… So I’m still cool?”

“The coolest person I know.”

“Hey! Pete, what about me! Remember how I speak French? And I play piano. And I have a nerdy brother who can quote books. That’s cooler than James.”

“I don’t think I should get involved in this,” Peter said slowly, regretting speaking.

“How dare you say you’re cooler than me?” James gasped, turning to Sirius.

Soon enough, the two of them were tackling each other and Peter looked at Remus, shaking his head and rolling his eyes, sighing. Remus smiled in response and Peter closed his eyes, letting himself rest by the fire, feeling happy to be with his friends.


	10. Fever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fever - Peggy Lee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW Mentions of Pain, Gore, Anxiety, Slurs

It was the day of the full moon and Remus was feeling restless and snapped at his friends a lot, but if they noticed, they didn’t confront him about it. He had barely gotten any sleep the night before but it wouldn’t have mattered as he would have bags under his eyes either way. He never wanted to miss class, even when he wasn’t feeling well, but was starting to consider it. Remus could hardly focus on class anyway. It wasn’t like it was teaching him anything.  
  
Professor Flitwick was teaching the class how to lock and unlock doors and other items, and he summoned a lock onto everyone’s desk where they were to practice the spells with partners. Remus had partnered with a somewhat concerned-looking Sirius.  
  
“What was the spell again?” Remus asked Sirius quietly. The other boy looked at Remus, a small frown on his face.  
  
“Alohomora to unlock. Colloportus to lock,” Sirius replied after a pause.  
  
Remus nodded slowly and attempted the spell, to no avail.  
  
“Are you okay? You’re usually great at Charms. And I’ve seen you practice this spell before.”  
  
“I’m fine, Siri!” Remus snapped. “Sorry. I’m just tired. I’m fine though.”  
  
“Lover’s quarrel?” a voice said from behind them.  
  
“Piss off, Snape,” Remus replied, rolling his eyes.  
  
“You’ve got pet names and everything. Siri, was it? And what does he call you then?” The next thing Snape said caused Sirius, James, and Peter (the two of which were partnered beside Remus and Sirius) to jump up and point their wands at Snape, spraying water in his face.  
  
“What is happening?!” Professor Flitwick asked, astounded. “Assaulting a student in my classroom? You four follow me.” Snape smirked until Flitwick added, “and you, Mr. Snape.”  
  
Remus followed his friends into Flitwick’s office, Sirius standing in a protective stance in front of his three friends. Snape stood to the side, glaring. “Remus didn’t do anything, Professor. He shouldn’t be here.”  
  
“Sirius, shut up!” Remus responded.  
  
“Please,” Flitwick said slowly. “Mr. Black. Tell me what happened.”  
  
“Snivellus called Remy the r slur. We defended him,” Sirius said simply, scoffing.  
  
“Mr. Snape? Your story?”  
  
“I didn’t do anything, Professor. They assaulted me! And now they are still calling me names in front of you!”  
  
“All we did was give you a much needed bath,” Sirius muttered.  
  
“Sirius!” James and Remus said at the same time.  
  
“Mr. Black. Please refrain from causing more fights. 10 points from Slytherin for inappropriate name calling. Do not use that sort of language in Hogwarts, Mr. Snape.”  
  
“You’re believing his word over mine even after he continues name calling?!” Snape demanded.  
  
Flitwick ignored him. “10 points from Gryffindor for each of the three of you for using spells against a fellow student. And 5 more for excessive name calling, Mr. Black. And Mr. Lupin, why don’t you go see Madam Pomfrey?”  
  
“I’m fine!” Remus snapped again. James, Peter, and Sirius gaped at him while Flitwick just raised his eyebrows. “Sorry, Professor. I only meant that I feel fine and would prefer to remain in class.”  
  
“If you’re absolutely sure,” Flitwick said after a pause. “But don’t hesitate to excuse yourself to the Hospital Wing if you need to.”  
  
Remus nodded and walked back to his seat, ignoring the stares from his friends, who took a moment before joining him back at the table. He was practicing his spells, his increased annoyance causing the spell to manipulate the lock very aggressively. Sirius sat in silence next to Remus until one of his unlocking spells caused the lock to break in half. He was halfway out of his seat when Sirius’s hand grabbed his wrist, pulling him back down into his seat.  
  
“Remus, I-” Sirius started, but Remus didn’t want to hear any pity or concern.  
  
“You know what?” Remus interrupted. “Maybe I will go see Madam Pomfrey.”  
  
“I’ll accompany you,” Sirius said immediately, standing up.  
  
“No!” Remus snapped again, standing up so fast he knocked his chair over. “I’d prefer to be alone, thanks,” he said, walking quickly out of the classroom.  
  
As soon as he got outside the classroom, he slid down the wall next to the door, putting his face in his hands. He sat there for a moment, trying to calm down his breathing, when the door opened. Remus immediately regretted not getting farther away from the classroom to sit down.  
  
“What the bloody hell was that, Lupin?” Marlene asked. Remus didn’t respond. “Truly uncharacteristic. I mean, making a scene in front of the whole class? I even heard you yelled at Flitwick. That’s pretty badass for a scrawny kid like you.”  
  
Remus looked up. “Scrawny?”  
  
Marlene was grinning down at him. “I mean, have you seen yourself? James and Sirius are pretty athletic, they have a bit of muscle. I mean, even Snivellus has more meat on his bones than you. Anyway, you’re changing the subject. We were talking about how uncharacteristically Sirius-like you’re acting.”  
“Are we?” Remus deadpanned, sighing.  
  
“Yes,” Marlene said sweetly. “So what’s happening, babe?”  
  
“Maybe I’m actually a terrible person who hates his friends and teachers? As I said loudly in front of everyone, I’m fine.”  
  
“Honey.”  
  
“No. I don’t want your pity or your sympathy! I’m actually going to the Hospital Wing. Have a good day!” Remus stood up and walked away, wishing he had said that in a different tone of voice so Marlene could tell he actually cared about her. He took a few steps before his brain spiraled into thoughts about his friends hating him and him not deserving his friends and before he knew it, Remus’s vision went black.

  
***  
  


When he woke up, Remus was in a bed in the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey was standing over him with a wet rag and a potion. “Your friends want to see you. Miss McKinnon told Professor Flitwick you fainted and now you have 5 worried visitors. Misses McKinnon and Evans are waiting alongside Misters Black, Potter, and Pettigrew. If you like, I can bring in one of them, but only one.”  
  
“Sirius, please.”  
  
“Alright. Mr. Lupin, you should’ve come to me earlier. You need to let people know when classes are too much for you. Take care of yourself, especially this time of the month.” The kindly witch placed a hand on his shoulder, giving a sympathetic smile.  
  
“Madam Pomfrey,” Remus said quietly.  
  
“Alright, I’ll get him. Take this sleeping potion in the meantime.” She handed him a potion, which he downed, and then walked to the door, opening it only a crack to stop his friends from rushing in. “Mr. Black. You may come in. Everyone else, get to your classes. I’m sure you’ll be updated in detail later.”  
  
There were protests, but Madam Pomfrey ushered Sirius in, making the rest of them disperse. Remus heard footsteps approaching his bed and glanced up as Sirius sat down next to him. Sirius didn’t say anything and Remus didn’t either. After a moment, Remus scooched over and patted next to him on the bed. Sirius laid down next to him and Remus hugged him, falling asleep.

  
***  
  


When Remus woke up again, he reached to the side where Sirius had been, but he was gone. “I made him leave. He protested for a long time, though. You need to get to the shack. I’m sorry, dearie.” Madam Pomfrey held out a hand and Remus took it, standing up.  
  
“What did you tell him?”  
  
“He seemed under the impression that you had a genetic disease passed down from your mother so I said you had a relapse.”  
  
Remus nodded. The two of them made their way out of the castle, and it was only when he felt the damp grass under his feet that Remus realized he wasn’t wearing shoes. They must have been taken off of him when he had gotten to the Hospital Wing. He didn’t say anything. As Madam Pomfrey levitated a rock into the knot on the Whomping Willow and dropped him off at the shack, Remus couldn’t think clearly. The Healer pressed a vial into his hands, in case he needed it, and locked the shack up. Sitting down on the rickety bed, he looked around the room, trying to ground himself.  
  
“Peeling wallpaper. Creaky bed. Old wardrobe. Broken bathroom door.” He repeated this to himself, looking at each item respectively, but it didn’t stop his thoughts. His friends were probably mad at him. He had embarrassed himself in front of the whole class. He’d yelled at a teacher!  
  
“No! Peeling wallpaper…” Remus stood up, running his hand along the walls, looking at the very dusty and old chandelier hanging from the ceiling. He walked across the stiff rug that was placed under the bed. When his thoughts wouldn’t stop, he took the sleeping potion Madam Pomfrey had given him. He’d wake up when he turned, but until then, he’d be calm.  
  
Sure enough, Remus woke up in excruciating pain, feeling his skin stretch to cover his transforming body. His mind went blank as he grew fur, and he woke up in the morning, again in excruciating pain. He didn’t have the energy to get up, and he’d torn his clothes transforming since he’d fallen asleep with them on. There was some smashed glass in the corner of the room that must have been from the vial, and a large piece of the glass was stuck in his forehead. He pulled it out without thinking and noticed the large amount of blood seeping from the wound before muttering “shit” and passing out again.

  
***  


For the second time in less than 24 hours, Remus woke up in the Hospital Wing with the Healer standing over him.  
  
“Mild injuries, other than the wound in your forehead which you worsened by taking out the glass. It’s fine, you didn’t know any better. It was quite deep and will probably leave a small scar. You will take the next day on bed rest before being released. In the meantime, Mr. Black has returned.”  
  
Remus nodded, grimacing at the idea of a scar on his face, his thoughts interrupted when Sirius ran into the room. “Are you feeling better? What happened to your forehead?”  
  
“Mr. Lupin tried to get out of bed and slammed his head on the bedside table. A bad wound, but it will heal.”  
  
Remus made a mental note to thank Madam Pomfrey for her quick thinking.  
  
“I’m fine. Actually this time. Just a relapse. Where are the others?”  
  
“James and Pete have detention for the Snape fiasco.”  
  
“What about you?”  
  
“Mine was last night. Had to clean some trophies with stupid Snivellus.” Sirius grimaced and made a gagging motion, making Remus laugh.  
  
“Pomfrey says I can’t leave until tomorrow,” Remus complained, making a face.  
  
“For your own health, Mr. Lupin!” Madam Pomfrey called from across the room.  
  
Remus’s jaw dropped and Sirius stifled a laugh, his lips pressed tightly together. “Why didn’t you tell me she was still there?” Remus hissed, lightly slapping Sirius’s shoulder.  
  
Sirius burst out laughing and fell off Remus’s bed, making Pomfrey storm over and kick him out. “You have class in fifteen minutes anyway. Remus needs his rest. You may return later!”  
  
Remus was given a nutrition drink with a calming potion mixed in, and he made sure to be very calm so he could convince Pomfrey to let him leave early. That evening, he brought up the subject.  
  
“You could give me some sleeping potion and some calming potion and I would make sure to stay calm and rest. I promise!” Remus smiled sweetly.  
  
“Alright, fine,” she relented, handing him a few vials.  
  
“Thanks Madam Pomfrey!” Remus called, grabbing his stuff and rushing out of the room.  
  
“But make sure you actually rest! And come see me if you-” The Hospital Wing door shut behind Remus before Madam Pomfrey finished her sentence.  
  
Making his way to the Gryffindor Tower, Remus met his friends, assuring them he was fine, and feeling immensely grateful they weren’t upset.


	11. Along Comes Mary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Along Comes Mary - The Association

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW Mentions of Anxiety and Family Issues

Sirius was sitting with his friends near the other girls, who were trying to ignore the Marauders. Particularly Lily, who, while friends with him and Remus, got incredibly annoyed by James.  
  
“And then Snivelly’s soup exploded in his face! It was so dope!” James was recounting the story of his prank on Snape during lunch to Sirius. He had been in detention for threatening a kid who was spreading rumors about Remus’s outburst in class earlier that month.  
  
“Could you please shut up?!” Lily burst out. “It isn’t cool that you’re a bully. You think you’re all that and special or whatever, but you’re just an arrogant toerag!”  
  
Sirius covered his mouth, suppressing a laugh as James gaped at Lily while she stormed away, followed by her friends.  
  
“You got told,” Peter said, the first to recover from shock.  
  
Sirius burst out into laughter, snorting, which only made him laugh harder. “Toerag?” he said after he’d finished laughing.  
  
Remus shrugged and James scowled, messing with his hair. “So we’re leaving the 22nd?” James said, changing the subject.  
  
“Yeah. Two days,” Sirius said, scowling.  
  
“You could stay if you want to, you know. There’s still time to tell Dumbles,” Peter pointed out.  
  
“No, I- I can’t. My family is… complicated.”  
  
“How complicated?”  
  
“Like, an above average amount?”  
  
“No, you idiot. I meant complicated in what way?”  
  
“Oh,” Sirius breathed sharply. “Um. I dunno. They’re just strict.” Remus was looking at him weirdly, as if he didn’t believe him, so Sirius shot him the smile he wore at family parties and the other boy looked away.  
  
“I’m so excited to see my mum and dad! I really miss Mum’s food. I mean, Hogwarts does okay, but they do not know how to spice food. Maybe I can complain to Dumbles…” James started.  
  
“Dumbles doesn’t make the food, you know.” James stopped talking and looked at Sirius. “House-elves?”  
  
“Wait, what are house-elves?” Remus asked.  
  
Sirius shifted in his seat. “They’re like, elves that work for people?”  
  
“So they get paid to work here?”  
  
“No?”  
  
“So they’re slaves?” Remus exclaimed.  
  
“Er.” Sirius hadn’t thought about it. Remus seemed to be right. They weren’t paid or given time off, and weren’t allowed to quit. Yeah, that was definitely slavery. Sirius thought about the house-elf the Black family owned. Kreacher was mean and grumpy, but Sirius had always hated the creature without feeling any empathy for him.  
  
“How is this legal?” he asked, breaking out of his thoughts.  
  
“How is what legal?” a girl asked from behind them. It was a Gryffindor Prefect. Sirius thought her name was Regina? He didn’t really know.  
  
“Enslaving house-elves.”  
  
“Oh,” the girl said. “There are a lot of people fighting it, but it’s been shifted to the side burner while we try to get rid of the whole war thing.”  
  
“What war thing?” Peter asked.  
  
“What? I have to go to Prefect duty,” the girl said quickly.  
  
“Wait-!” Peter called out, but the girl was gone. “What war?”  
  
“Do you not read newspapers?” Sirius asked. Peter shook his head, and Remus and James looked confused as well. “Er, well there’s a dude who people call You-Know-Who who is gaining a following and is pushing for… Well, basically he doesn’t think Muggle-Borns or Half-Bloods should have power.”  
  
“So they believe all that Pure-Blood supremacy shit?” Remus asked.  
  
“Yeah. Pretty much.”  
  
“Er, I don’t mean to be rude,” Remus started. Sirius turned to see the other boy fidgeting and looking at the ground. “But, aren’t your family into all that crap?”  
  
Sirius paused. “I don’t- I mean, they are but I don’t think they want to kill people because of it like You-Know-Who does.”  
  
The four boys sat in silence and Sirius felt very uncomfortable. His family couldn’t be part of that. He took a deep breath and excused himself to the bathroom, where he splashed cold water on his face, clearing his mind and calming himself down.

  
***  
  


The next two days passed by faster than Sirius would have liked. On the morning of the day they left, the Marauders sat down in the Great Hall with letter-shaped Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks pre-placed in order above the professor table. As soon as Dumbledore stood up to give a speech, James placed his hand palm-up on the table, the predetermined signal. The four boys discreetly aimed their wand above the professors, shooting a quick Aguamenti into the air. The first thing to happen was a small freak-out by the professors, who got water doused on them. It was only a moment later that they noticed the fireworks above them, spelling out the words ‘END ELF SLAVERY’ in bright letters. Sirius smiled at the other Marauders, giving James a high five under the table.  
  
The smile melted off his face, however, when Dumbledore turned around, saw the letters, and his face turned completely red. The headmaster, known for being bubbly and calm turned around with anger all over his face. “Breakfast is over. Everyone return to your dormitories.”  
  
Peter shot Sirius a concerned look and the four boys swallowed hard, standing up to walk out of the Great Hall, but they were stopped by McGonagall, who steered them to her office. Sirius stood in front of his friends, all of whom were looking worriedly at their Head of House.  
  
“I’ve been told by your Prefect, Miss Regina Peterson, that you four have taken a particular interest in House-Elf rights, which, given current events, seems to point to you four having produced this particular scene.” McGonagall was looking at the four boys, not with anger or sternness, but more interest.  
  
“Is there a question there?” Sirius asked boldly, causing Peter to kick his ankle.  
  
“I must say that I do agree with you four in this, however our Headmaster is set in his ways, and considering I am outranked by him and am more invested in putting manpower into the impending- Well, suffice it to say that I must do something to reprimand you for disrupting breakfast, despite sharing your views. I’ll be writing a letter home to each of your families. However, I will also be awarding you each 10 points to Gryffindor for standing up for your beliefs.” McGonagall looked at them through her rectangular spectacles, eyebrows raised, expecting a response.  
  
“Is that all, Professor?” Peter asked quietly.  
  
“You may go,” she said, nodding at the door.  
  
“Thank you, Professor,” Sirius murmured.  
  
Sirius’s friends gave out a sigh of relief as they left the office, although Remus was worrying out loud about his parents receiving a letter. Sirius, on the other hand, was busy thinking about how his parents would react to receiving not only a letter, but one that showed Sirius speaking out against the enslavement of House Elves. Sirius groaned and walked ahead of his friends, speeding towards the Gryffindor Tower. He turned slightly at a tap on his shoulder.  
  
“You okay, Sirius?” Peter asked.  
  
“I’m fine. You can tell James he can stop worrying.”  
  
“Sirius is busy talking to Remus. I just wanted to know how you were doing. Is your family going to be upset?”  
  
Sirius sighed. “I dunno.”  
  
Luckily, Peter got the hint and left the topic alone. The boy muttered a quick “Gillyweed” to open the portraithole and Sirius and Peter stopped in their tracks after walking through, causing Remus and James to run into them.  
  
“What the hell, mate? I- Woah,” Remus exclaimed.  
  
Because breakfast had been interrupted, it seemed that Dumbledore had moved the feast into the Common Rooms. There were three tables set up with piles of food, and another table with plates and silverware for students to use. The Marauders started to walk towards the tables when their Prefect interrupted them.  
  
“Hey Black. Lupin. Pettigrew. Potter. Er, I hope I didn’t cause you any trouble with McGonagall. I mentioned it to her two days ago during Prefect duty to tell her how interested you lot were with making change, but I had no idea she would tie something like this to you. Truly, if-”  
  
“It’s fine, Regina. She gave us House points, actually,” James said quickly.  
  
“Oh thank God. I was so worried,” she said, letting out a sigh of relief. “Well, good morning then!”

  
***  
  


After some last minute scrambling, Sirius found himself fully packed and sitting in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, on his way to Grimmauld Place to see his family. The only good thing he saw coming was seeing Regulus. He missed his little brother immensely, no matter how annoying he could be. Sirius sat next to Remus, who fell asleep on his shoulder for about the whole train ride. James and Peter were engaged in a very serious game of chess, and Sirius was left alone to his own thoughts. He found himself spiralling into himself with thoughts of anxiousness and panic, worry about seeing his family, and anticipation of seeing Reggie. The ride went by quickly and, too soon, Sirius was at King’s Cross. Sirius shook Remus awake and the Marauders said quick goodbyes before leaving their compartment.  
  
As the four boys stepped off the train, James and Peter ran to their parents, but Sirius faltered a bit. Remus looked at him for a second, and then apparently decided to walk with him to his mother, who was waiting impatiently by the apparition area. She was a very stern lady and had her hair pinned up on top of her head. She kind of reminded Remus of McGonagall, but meaner looking and not as slim.  
  
“Nice to meet you, Madam Walburga. I’m Remus,” the boy said, sticking out his hand. Sirius gaped and Walburga looked shocked as well. Everyone called her Mrs. Black, and only spoke to her when she initiated a conversation. Walburga narrowed her eyes.  
  
“I presume you are one of Sirius’s half-blood friends?” she said distastefully.  
  
“I’m terribly sorry, are you trying to be racist?” Remus asked innocently, playing dumb. Walburga pursed her lips.  
  
“Your mother is a Muggle, and your father a wizard, correct? That makes you a half-blood.” She was clearly seething.  
  
“Oh no. Madam Walburga, I’m afraid you’ve gotten yourself terribly confused. Muggles have blood too, you see.” Walburga stood there, astonished. “Anyway, nice to meet you. See you later Siri!” Remus walked away, leaving Sirius and Walburga, both too shocked to speak.  
  
“Sirius,” Sirius muttered, correcting Remus’s retreating figure. Walburga took a moment to recover before pulling Sirius to the apparition area and taking him back to Grimmauld Place. This would be a long Christmas.


	12. It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You) - Elvis Presley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW Mentions of Cursing, Verbal Abuse, and Physical Abuse

Sirius had barely recovered from the Apparition trip when the front door opened and Regulus ran out, pulling Sirius into a bear hug. Sirius pulled away quickly after hearing his father clear his throat sternly. Stepping forward in front of Reggie, Sirius put his hand on Regulus’s head, ruffling his hair lightly.  
  
“Hello, Father,” Sirius said, looking at the ground.  
  
Orion said nothing and instead stepped aside to allow the Gryffindor to walk into the house. Kreacher appeared at Sirius’s feet to take the boy’s suitcase. Remembering his conversation with his friends, Sirius smiled and muttered a quick hello and thank you to the creature, who scoffed in return.  
  
Sirius frowned and followed his father to the formal dining room, where dinner was set on the table. Swallowing hard, he prepared himself for the verbal abuse he knew was coming. Sure enough, as soon as he had taken his first bite, his father spoke up.  
  
“Gryffindor?!”  
  
“Sorry, Sir.”  
  
“And how many detentions have you gotten already?”  
  
Sirius shrugged, taking another bite of food.  
  
“Speak.”  
  
“I dunno.”  
  
Orion grunted. “Look at me when you speak. Those friends of yours too?”  
  
“They have the same amount of detention as me.”  
  
“I wasn’t asking that.”  
  
Sirius bit back a laugh. “Then what were you asking, Sir?”  
  
“You should have chosen better friends, Sirius. That’s what Orion means. That one Half-Blood was particularly rude to me at the station,” Walburga cut in.  
  
Sirius didn’t quite manage to hide his laugh this time.  
  
“You think it’s funny that your mother was sassed by your Half-Blood friend?” Orion barked.  
  
Sirius looked up to see Regulus looking very interestedly at his plate. Swallowing hard, the Gryffindor looked directly into his father’s eyes. “Yes, Sir, I do.”  
  
The resulting chaos almost made Sirius laugh. Walburga gasped loudly and Regulus dropped his silverware on the floor. Orion stayed eerily calm. “Kreacher, take Sirius to his room. He isn’t to leave until the Christmas party.”  
  
Sirius glared hard as he was led to his room. “Bye Kreacher,” he called as the house-elf left him alone.  
  
“Goodbye, Young Master Black,” Kreacher replied with a cold tone.  
  
Sirius sat down on the edge up his bed and resisted the urge to smash everything he could. After taking a deep breath, he instead unpacked some of his Gryffindor themed items and hung them around the room. By the time he had finished putting up his last poster, his mother walked into his room. She flinched at the decorations he had put up and Sirius bowed his head.  
  
“You shouldn’t rile up your father,” she said plainly.  
  
“He doesn’t even like me. It doesn’t matter what I say,” Sirius replied, pushing back the impending tears.  
  
His mother inhaled, sitting down next to Sirius, not touching him. “Darling. He loves you so much. That’s why he wants you to be around better influences.”  
  
“Yeah okay.”  
  
“Sirius. Do better. And take down whatever shit you put up on the walls.”  
  
Sirius nodded, scoffing as she left the room. “Do better? What the bloody hell does that mean?” He kicked the corner of his bed, immediately regretting that decision as he hobbled around his room. In his anger, he decided to leave up the decorations in spite.

  
***  
  


The next morning, a knock on the door revealed Regulus, holding a plate with breakfast on it.  
  
“Hey Reggie. I missed you at Hogwarts,” Sirius said, smiling.  
  
“I missed you too.” Regulus paused before he left the room again. “You know, maybe if you were nicer to Dad I’d be able to hang out with you.”  
  
Sirius slumped. “I know. I’m sorry, Reg.”  
  
Regulus hung his head, nodding slightly before shutting the door behind him.

  
***  
  


Sirius spent the next few days terribly lonely in his room, getting short visits from Kreacher, Regulus, and Walburga at meal times. Finally, Christmas Day arrived and Sirius awoke with several packages on the end of his bed. He had gotten letters from Remus, James, Peter, Lily, and Marlene. They all said similar things about being excited to see him again and Happy Christmas. Sirius sent short replies back with his owl, Doyle. The Marauders had decided to not get presents for each other, but James never followed rules, so Sirius shouldn’t have been surprised to see a package from his friend on his bed. To specify, it had a note saying it was from Saint Nick, but it was written in James’s handwriting.  
  
Sirius ripped it open to see a Gryffindor banner and a Muggle magazine. He quickly hung up the banner and looked through the magazine. There were several photos of something with two wheels that was called a motorbike. Sirius couldn’t believe how cool they looked, as well as the people sitting on them, and he ripped out a page that had a picture of it. It was a Muggle picture, so it didn’t move, but Sirius liked it and hung it up over his bed. He then placed the magazine under his mattress and waited for his breakfast to be brought to him.  
  
Soon enough, Kreacher entered, handed him breakfast, ignored Sirius’s thank you, and left. What was surprising, however, was the visit from Orion a few minutes later.  
  
“I’ve been told you had decided to decorate and didn’t listen to your mother’s request to take the decorations down.”  
  
Sirius’s eyes widened.  
  
“Gryffindors,” Orion scoffed. “And what’s this? A Muggle photograph?” Orion ripped off the motorbike picture and slapped Sirius across the face, pulling out his wand. Sirius pressed himself against the wall, but Orion only put a covering spell on Sirius’s cheek to hide the handprint he’d left there.  
  
“Take it down. Do better.” With that, Orion left the room.  
  
‘Do better.’ Sirius didn’t know what they meant by that. He pulled the decorations down, fuming, and waited to be called down to the dinner party.

  
***  
  


Regulus walked into Sirius’s room, a smile on his face. “Hey Siri! I brought your clothes for the party. And Mum and Dad say you can come down now, provided your decorations are gone, and I don’t see any decorations, so yay!”  
  
Sirius took the dress robes from Regulus’s hand and grabbed something from his trunk. “Hey, Reggie. Guess what my friend Remus gave me for my birthday. It’s a Muggle book! You can read it if you want, but don’t tell Mum, Dad, or Kreacher. Kreacher, by the way, has it in for me. I was polite with him and everything and he snitched on me and Dad hit- Dad got mad at me.”  
  
“He likes me alright. I wanna read it, Siri.” Regulus grabbed the book and sat down on Sirius’s bed, opening it up. “James and the Giant Peach,” he muttered  
  
Sirius stepped into the corner of the room, changing quickly into his dress robes and brushing his hair out, making sure it looked neat enough that his parents wouldn’t feel the need to cut it.  
  
“How do I look?” he asked, holding up a peace sign.  
  
“Pretty dope,” Regulus said, not looking up from the book.  
  
“Reg.”  
  
“What? Oh right.” The younger boy glanced up for a moment before looking back down. “Pretty dope.”  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes, sitting down next to his brother, his arm around Regulus’s shoulders. “How are you already 20 pages in?”  
  
“Maybe you just read slowly. Surprised you’re not completely illiterate anyway.”  
  
Sirius gave a fake look of hurt. “Rude. We have to go down. I can hear Bellatrix all the way downstairs.”  
  
Regulus groaned, placing the book lightly on Sirius’s bed, and the two boys walked downstairs to greet their guests.  
  
Everyone had gathered in the formal dining room and Sirius felt everyone’s eyes on him. He nodded, smiling slightly, and everyone immediately swarmed him, giving him greetings and commenting on his friends, choices, House, and looks. Bellatrix was especially harsh on him, while her husband, Rodolphus, whom she had married after her graduation from Hogwarts the year before, looked on without interest.  
  
Narcissa, Bellatrix’s younger sister, was only in her fourth year and gave Sirius a small smile and a shoulder squeeze. Andromeda swept Sirius into a short hug, giving him an encouraging nod. She was Sirius’s favorite cousin. No one else of interest was there, except Sirius’s strange Uncle Alphard, who grasped Sirius’s shoulder tightly and gave him a grim smile.  
  
“Fuck this family, am I right?” Uncle Alphard muttered, taking a quick drink from a flask he had hidden in his robes. Sirius swallowed hard, giving a small chuckle and trying to free himself from his Uncle’s grasp. “Let me give you some advice. Soon as you get of age, leave them the fuck behind. I should’ve done that long ago, the fucking Pureblood Supremacists.” Sirius smiled slightly, pulling away at last.  
  
The rest of the night went by slowly, with nothing interesting happening. Sirius was glad when everyone left and he was allowed to retreat to his room. Regulus crawled into bed next to Sirius, reading James and the Giant Peach silently. Sirius put a protective arm around Regulus, pulling him closer, and closed his eyes.

  
***  
  


The Black family didn’t make a big deal of the New Year. They had a formal dinner, unlike most nights, where the family ate separately or, occasionally, together in the basement. Sirius was elated when January 2nd came and it was time to leave for Hogwarts.  
  
Regulus slipped into Sirius’s room at 10 in the morning to return the Muggle book.  
  
“It was a very interesting read. Tell Remus I liked it. Don’t get into too much trouble, and don’t forget about me,” the small boy said.  
  
“Love you, Reggie,” Sirius said in an emotional voice.  
  
“Love you too, Siri.”  
  
“I have to leave, Reg.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
“Bye. I’ll write you, I promise.” With a last hug, Sirius walked downstairs, where his mother and father were waiting.  
  
“Don’t disappoint us,” Orion said, and Sirius pressed his lips together.  
Sirius  
was led out to the front porch, where Walburga grabbed his arm and the two of them Apparated to King’s Cross station.  
  
Sirius recovered quickly and grabbed his trunk and Doyle to get on the train, when he felt a hand on his arm. He turned, surprised, to see his mother looking at him.  
  
“We love you, darling,” she said.  
  
“Love you too, Mum,” Sirius muttered before turning away, approaching the train without looking back.


End file.
